


Well, Just Because

by Larrylunatic



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - High School, Artist Zayn, Bad Boy Louis, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, F/M, Football Player Liam, M/M, Minor Character Death, Nerd Harry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-17
Updated: 2015-03-04
Packaged: 2018-02-21 13:18:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2469644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larrylunatic/pseuds/Larrylunatic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High school AU where Harry moves to America from Cheshire and Louis, Zayn, Niall, and Liam welcome him to the States. Louis may or may not find him to be hella attractive.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

He always attracted all the girls. His arrogant, cocky, rebellious persona made the panties drop every time he sped into the school lot in his Roadster Rally Red 1968 Corvette Convertible. He’d leap out without opening the door, fix his side-swept fringe, reach in the car to grab his bag which held nothing of educational importance, and he’d saunter into the building. Some of the guys on the football team would run up to walk with him, or at the very least, shout hellos to him from their cars. They all had the utmost admiration for him, despite last season’s events.  
You see, Louis Tomlinson was by far the most respected among his peers. Teachers usually didn’t like him as much because he was notorious for cutting class, and when he did show up, he was either late, asleep, or a disruption. Despite his behavior, the teachers didn’t totally hate him. They knew he had a “rough home life” and, all in all, he was a good human being. He’d been known to stop bullies from getting to vulnerable underclassmen and he’d hand a few dollars to anyone in the lunch line that was a quarter short of getting their food. He was the kind of kid that would make fun of Hitler loudly in history class, calling him all sorts of profane things to get a laugh, but the moment someone turned any jokes on a classmate who couldn’t take it, he’d shut it down. Teachers would fondly roll their eyes at his antics on good days, and comically give him a detention slip on bad ones. He always served his detentions and never showed any sign of being a real problem.  
That was until last football season. It was October of Louis’ junior year. He was the quarterback on the school team. He took the sport seriously, but not as seriously as Liam, the team captain and back up quarterback. Louis had seen Liam’s father yelling at him before a game one night. Liam’s dad was a big guy and had been the town’s star athlete back in the day. He had a reputation for pushing Liam to a point of exhaustion to be the best. Louis heard the yelling as he arrived late for warm ups. Liam’s dad belittled and insulted Liam constantly for not being a starter, and poor Liam, stood there and took it without blinking. He nodded nervously with each harsh word.  
Louis knew that Liam went to every practice, conditioning, game, open field, lifting, fundraiser, banquet, and private lession in order to be good enough for his dad. Liam was always the first on the field and the last off. He’d offer to help the coach set up or clean up constantly, which is how he was awarded the title of captain. He worked way harder than Louis, who was once half drunk at one of their games. Louis stood behind the bleachers and watched the whole ordeal. After what seemed like an eternity, Liam’s dad sulked off in disgust to get a seat for the game. Liam blinked back a tear right as he looked up and made eye contact with Louis, who returned a blank look to the pitiful and defeated brunette in front of him. Liam tried to laugh it off.  
“Haha, parents. Am I right?” He said half heart-idly. Louis saw right through it, knowing first hand about daddy issues. For the sake of Liam’s dignity, he played along.  
“I know. Mine got on me when they found a joint in my car the other day. Fucking annoying.” He laughed. Liam cracked a slight smile, and gave Louis a look of thanks. Before walking out to the field.  
Louis knew the right thing to do. He knew he didn’t give a fuck about football and only did it to keep himself busy. He knew Liam needed help, so Louis did what any good person would do. He went to his car and lit up the joint.  
He wasn’t a total stoner, but his senior friend Stan was a dealer and gave Louis the occasional offer he couldn’t refuse, so Louis was no stranger to weed. He smoked behind the field house until he had a decent buzz, then he put out the joint and walked into the locker room. The offensive players were out on the field, leaving the defensive players in getting a pep talk from two of the five coaches. Head Coach Higgins was in the middle of drawing on a white board for all the players when Louis walked in high as a kite and singing a Mary J Blige song that he barely even knew.  
“Tomlinson, are you high?” The coach asked, seething with anger. To this day, the defensive players say that Louis flipped him the bird and screamed, “CHICKEN AND CHILI PEW PEW PEW BA BOO BOP PEW PEW PEW!” while nodding. Needless to say, Louis was permanently kicked off the team. Liam became main quarterback, and proved to be much better and more punctual than Louis. Since the coaches really liked Louis, they spared him the trouble of telling the administration at the school, saying he was kicked off for arriving late too many times. Louis became a legend among the football players, and therefore the school. Liam smiled more than anyone had ever seen him smile, and soon after he started dating a cheerleader named Danielle.  
Since that incident a year ago, Louis popularity soared. He was Locksley High’s most wanted among the girls. Unfortunately for them, he had come out as gay in the winter of his junior year, thanks to the help of his friend Niall.  
Niall was his friend since birth. The two had grown up across the street from each other and remained close their whole lives, even when Louis told him in seventh grade that he liked boys. Tears had rushed down his angular face as they sat on Niall’s trampoline at 3 in the morning. Louis hadn’t told anyone at that point, and this first experience would be the deciding factor if he ever told anyone else. Niall responded with one sentence.  
“Cool, let’s go play GTA.”  
The blonde’s indifference to Louis’ sexuality gave him a false sense of confidence, and eighth grade year Louis decided to mention it in passing to his parents. His dad beat him and his mom was too drunk to stop him. Louis spent most of that year at Niall’s. Every time he went home his dad would taunt him and occasionally attempt to throw a punch, which Louis had become an expert at dodging. His mom was always drunk or out sleeping with men behind the bar. His parents frequently reminded him that he was an accident and not wanted- gay or straight. He only ever stayed in his house long enough to sleep for a night and change in the morning. He became extremely social to avoid being at home, and all the other kids just thought it was his personality, but Niall knew better.  
December of junior year. Louis was in the cafeteria with Niall. One of the slutty girls (Kendall was her name) who’d been into Louis since freshman year came over to their table for the fifth time that week to throw her and her low-cut top at Louis, who shrugged her off as usual. She traced a finger over his tic-tac-toe tattoo and he pulled his arm away. Niall tried to chat her up but she rolled her eyes at his advances. A few of the other guys at the table started laughing at Kendall’s desperation. She instantly panicked and tried to defend herself.  
“You know, I bet you’re a fag, Louis. I mean, you haven’t ever dated a girl and you don’t like pussy as far as anyone knows.” She sneered loud enough for the tables around to start listening in.  
“I bet you’d suck a dick any day. Or take it up the ass. I bet you’re a total cock slut.” She continued.  
“That is literally what we were just sayin about you.” Niall said in mock surprise, earning guffaws from a few football players further down the table. Louis was looking at Niall, totally pale and silent for once. Kendall noticed and continued.  
“I bet the two of you fuck each other all the time.” She said smuggly. Niall laughed loudly, gaining more attention.  
“And where would I find the time for that in between banging your hotter younger sister and your best friend?” Niall recalled the scandal the whole school had talked about a few months back when Kendall walked in on Niall, Kendall’s friend Eleanor, and her sister Kylie having sex on Kendall’s bed. Niall had solidified his reputation of being the only junior guy who’d had a threesome. She scowled at the reminder.  
“Look at the little fag, too scared to speak.” She mock cooed at Louis, who looked broken. He suddenly looked up at her and calmly said.  
“Kendall, I like dick about as much as you. We’re the same really, except I’m not the class slut. So if you’d quit trying to throw your vagina at me I’d appreciate it. Thanks.” He looked at Niall who smiled a proud smile that he’d been holding on to since seventh grade. Kendall just walked back to her table, dumb founded. Everyone at Louis’ table was staring at him in shock, which Niall soon noticed. He turned to all of them.  
“Guys, it’s not a big deal. It’s not like he’s gonna put the move on any of you fuck wits, so it doesn’t affect you.” They all laughed with Niall and everything went back to normal. Word spread and soon the whole school knew. No one dared to insult Louis to his face because they knew that he had the support of the football team, the music obsessed friends of Niall, and the artsy friends of Zayn. No one ever said anything offensive. No one cared too much, because there weren’t any other openly gay students, until that day Zayn came sprinting through the halls to find Louis.  
It was March of junior year. Louis was at his locker talking to Stan when he heard people shouting down the hall. Always looking for excitement, he craned his neck to see over his taller classmates crowding the hall. He could catch a glimpse of black hair and a sliver of blonde in it speeding at him. As he came closer, Louis could see the look of pure ecstasy on Zayn’s face and a large blue paint stain on his t shirt.  
“LOUIS LOUIS LOUIS LOUIS!!!!!” He shouted as he came right up beside Stan. Zayn ignored the “Watch it dumb ass!” shot at him by someone he ran into. He didn’t even give Louis a chance to ask questions before blurting out a broken sentence of explanation.  
“New kid. Gay. Junior. In my art class. Exchange student.” His eyes were wide. Stan smiled at Louis.  
“Now’s your chance to get some dick.” He laughed leaning onto a still sweaty/excited Zayn Malik.  
“Guys.” Louis held up a hand. “I’m not just gonna fall in love with the first gay guy to walk into my life. If there were one girl at this school you wouldn’t just go after her because she’s your only option.” He said with a half laugh at their ignorance. They gave him crinkled faced of confusion in return.  
“Tommo, no one’s talking about love.” Stan said slowly, as if speaking at a lower speed would make his point.  
“Listen, I’ll kill you if you ever tell anyone I admitted this, but this guy is attractive. He’d be a good bang for you.”  
Before Louis could continue his argument the warning bell rang, reminding him he had four minutes to get to chemistry. He’d never cared about being punctual for class, but he feigned it to get out of this conversation. Louis didn’t want to just pair up with the other gay boy because he happened to be there. It would seem like he was doing it just for sex, not because he actually cared about the person. It was too low for him. He waved a gaping Zayn and arguing Stan off as he made his way to Ms. Kohlman’s room.  
Ms. Kohlman was one of the nicest teachers in the building, and one of the most likely to let Louis’ antics slide. She was fresh out of college, so she had a decent understanding of what high schoolers were like. That’s why she thought it’d be smart to sit the new kid by Louis (Also, the super smart freshman girl, Noelle, who had been Louis’ lab partner since the beginning of second semester had complained about Louis never doing the work and requested a new partner) She knew Louis wouldn’t let anyone make fun of him.  
Louis sauntered into the class with his head down. He’d had a rough night with his dad the night before, and he was exhausted. He planned on sleeping through the whole class. Once he found his lab table he dropped his bag and laid his head down on the cool surface.  
“Louis?” Ms. Kohlman called politely from the front of the room. He was too tired to think, so he just mumbled from under his tattoo-doodled arms.  
“Yeah?”  
“I’m gonna have our new student sit by you today. Can you please fill Harry in on the lab precedure as we go along?” She sounded overly polite, probably for the sake of the new kid. Louis kept his head down.  
“Sure.” He groaned. He had planned on sleeping and that didn’t change just because he was getting a new lab partner. Louis heard footsteps approaching his seat. He could barely make out what Ms. Kohlman was mumbling to the person beside her.  
“He really is nice, he just has a taste for defying authority. Maybe you can straighten him out.” She said, with fondness. Louis almost laughed at that. Setting a boy with him sure as hell wouldn’t straighten him out, and just as he sat up to tell her that, he made eye contact with the second most attractive person in school. Second only to himself. A pair of wide eyes stared at him. Curly brown hair crowned the boy’s head, which was cover in creamy pale skin. He was opening his mouth to speak when he dropped his thick chemistry textbook and it landed on his chair with a thud. He blushed and smiled at Louis.  
“Oops.” He said, reaching to pick it up and set it on the table so he could sit.  
“Hi.” Louis said with a slight smile, amused by the shade of pink spreading through the face of this boy.  
“I’m Harry. Sorry you got stuck with me.” He said in a deep and- wait. Was that a British accent? New kid, obviously not from around here, hella attractive, blue paint on his fingers.  
“Did you just come from art?” Louis blurted, which surprised Harry a bit until he followed Louis’ eyes to his hand which was speckled with blue paint.  
“Yeah, haha. I’m a complete idiot and I splattered blue paint all over this guy next to me. I thought he was gonna kill me but he ended up being cool and we chatted for a while-”  
“Was his name Zayn?” Louis asked urgently. Harry just smiled wider exposing dimples- oh god beautiful dimples- and nodded.  
“Zayn, yeah that’s it. Do you know him?” Harry asked, deep and British. Louis heart pounded.  
“He’s a buddy of mine. Then again almost everyone here is.” Louis said with a slight tone of arrogance. He was trying desperately hard to conceal his excitement. Based on the clues he picked up on, this was the cute new junior who happened to be gay.  
“Wait, is your surname Tomlinson?” Harry asked, furrowing his brows. It was Louis’ turn to be surprised.  
“Uh huh.” He sat up a little more. “How’d you know?”  
“Liam told me about you.” Harry said as if that should explain everything. Louis was still in the dark here.  
“Liam who?”  
“I don’t know. The little office helper. He was in there this morning when I got lost and he walked me to calculus. He said you’re the coolest lad in the school.” Harry cocked his head to the side as he spoke.  
“He said lad?” Louis laughed, making Harry blush again.  
“Well, no. He used one of your American words like dude or something.” Harry explained.  
Louis opened his mouth to ask what else Liam had said about him when the bell rang and Ms. Kohlman started class. Louis desperately tried to drift off, but his mind was racing with questions. What did Liam say to Harry. How did Zayn find out he’s gay? Did he even know that for sure? Why the hell was a cute British boy in his chem class? And most importantly- is he single?  
Louis spent the remainder of the agonizing class getting Harry up to speed on the lab they’d be starting tomorrow. Every time he tried to change the subject or get off task, Harry would subtly imply that he actually cared about his grade, and therefore needed to focus. It was a test of Louis’ microscopic patience, but he waited until the bell rang before asking  
“Can I see your schedule?” He watched as Harry opened his bag and pulled out a clean blue folder, then a laminated copy of his schedule. How cute. He went through all the trouble. Louis took it out of his hands, entirely out of patience. This boy may be cute, but everything about him is too slow for Louis’ liking.  
His eyes widened as he read. AP Calc, Honors English, College Art, Chemistry, Lunch, AP Physics, AP French, Statistics, and Microbiology. Louis hadn’t even heard of half of these courses. His day consisted of reg classes, lunch, study hall, and computer applications. He was amazed by Harry’s ambition.  
“Holy shit.” He whispered in awe as he stared at the sheet in front of him. Harry tensed up.  
“What?” Harry asked, voice full of concern.  
“You’re in AP everything.” Louis marveled.  
“I don’t know what all those letters mean.” Harry confessed, still worried.  
“They mean you’re a fucking genius.” Louis laughed, handing the schedule back to Harry, who smiled at the compliment. Louis swung his bag on his shoulder. “Walk with me, Harold.” He called as he made his way out of the room, waving at Ms. Kohlman as he passed her desk. Harry hurriedly packed up and placed everything neatly in his bag, chasing Louis into the tiled hallway.  
“Where are we going?” He asked, using his arms to cradle his chemistry book. Louis stopped long enough to wait for Harry to catch up, and then continued walking at his brisk pace. For such a short-legged person, he had phenomenal speed. Zayn always attributed it to his lack of patience.  
“The cafeteria. We both have lunch right now. Follow me. You’re gonna sit at my table.” He winked, turning his back completely to Harry.  
After taking Harry through the complex and fast-moving lunch line, Louis approached the long rectangular fold-able table. He noticed that Niall was already sitting in the very middle seat across from Zayn, who was still in the blue catastrophe of a shirt. The seemed to be in the middle of an argument that only Zayn was taking seriously.  
“Dude, I’m just saying. Her face may be a 5 but her tits are 9.” Niall garbled through a mouthful of Cheetos.  
“And I’m just saying she has too much self respect to get within a ten foot radius of you.” Zayn said with a slightly disgusted face as he cracked open an Arizona Tea. His girlfriend Perrie came up beside him, giving him a kiss on the cheek before sitting down. She was a year younger than them, but they had been dating for the past year, so she felt at ease around all the guys.  
“Niall, I overheard her in the locker room before gym. She thinks you’re dumb but she wants to fuck you.” Perrie filled in as she tightened her ponytail.  
Niall had just opened his mouth to brag to Zayn when Louis slid into his seat beside Niall. Harry was standing awkwardly, not sure where to sit. Zayn saw him and gave Louis a look saying I knew you’d like him from behind his can of tea. Louis smiled smugly and turned back to Harry. He pulled out the chair beside him and patted the seat. Harry cautiously sat down and placed his bag on the floor beside him.  
“Sit here, Haz.” He said with equal arrogance and genuine invitation.  
“Whozzat?” Niall asked, the question muffled by his pizza. He stared at Harry in a way that might be considered improper for a first meeting. Louis smirked as he spoke.  
“This is Harry. He’s new. He’s gonna sit here from now on, so be nice to him you savages.” Louis looked directly at Niall, who laughed too loudly.  
“Hello.” Harry said shyly. He then turned his eyes to Zayn. “I’m so sorry about your shirt mate. I’ll pay you back.” Louis’ heart fluttered at how genuine Harry sounded, a trait that Louis didn’t usually posses. Everything he said always sounded like sarcasm.  
“Dude it’s cool. I actually think it looks artsy like this.” Zayn shrugged, putting an arm around Perrie, who seemed eager to speak.  
“Where are you from Harry?” She asked with her sweetest voice.  
“Just moved from Cheshire.” He said with a smile. When he only got blank looks in return he continued. “It’s in England.” Then everyone nodded in understanding. “My dad got moved here for work and instead of leaving me there with my sister, my mum thought it’d be good for me to ‘see the world’ I’m not sure how much of the world I’m seeing from inside an American high school, but it’s nice so far.” Louis smiled at Harry’s words. So he did have a sarcastic side. Good to know.  
“So are British girls hot?” Niall asked bluntly, waggling his eyebrows. Harry blushed violently at the question.  
“Oh…well I… I uh.. I don’t really…” He stuttered, suddenly flustered. Louis bailed him out.  
“Niall give it a rest. They’re not gonna want your ignorant ass anyway.” He and Zayn laughed, noticing Harry’s discomfort decreasing minimally.  
Niall muttered something like don’t need them to want my ass, just my dick but it went unheard as Liam approached the table with Danielle, his girlfriend. She was head cheerleader, making their relationship a total cliché. It worked though. Liam was the football player who worked way too hard in school and sports, and Danielle was the pretty preppy cheerleader who actually had a 4.3 GPA. They were the high school power couple, holding hands in Honors Advanced AP Whatever and kissing after Friday night football games. Louis hadn’t really known Liam until January, when second semester began. Liam’s lunch had gotten switched and he started sitting at their table. As far as Louis knew, Liam was an honest guy with too big of a heart and brain. He seemed like the type to avoid a fight, but he’d probably talk the principal out of suspending you if you were in one, which Louis saw as a strategic benefit to their friendship.  
As Liam sat down across from Louis and Danielle sat across from Harry, Louis welcomed them. Liam smiled at everyone and pulled his lunch bag out of his back pack.  
“Hey Harry! How’s your first day going?” Liam asked politely.  
“It’s pretty scary, to be honest. This school is a bit of a zoo, no disrespect.” Harry said to everyone at the table. They all laughed and he looked confused.  
“Buddy, we know it’s a zoo. You haven’t even seen anything yet.” Louis laughed, clapping a hand on Harry’s back amicably. Harry smiled wide, showing off his dimples again.  
There was a beat of silence where everyone at the table just sat there admiring Louis’ and Harry’s chemistry. Niall broke the silence with a loud burp.  
“Niall you fucking wildebeest.” Louis mumbled, rubbing his eyes.  
Lunch went on with everyone filling Harry in on high school and America in general. Louis was always the first to pipe up, trying to be as helpful as possible while also being sarcastic. Liam chimed in to clarify honestly occasionally. Danielle talked to Perrie about bands and movies and whatever it is girls talk about. Niall got in another debate with Zayn at the end of the period, arguing that hot dogs were “the American food” while Zayn battled for burgers. The bell concluded the period, sending Harry off to AP Chemistry with Liam and Danielle. Louis wanted to go with them. He wanted to keep getting to know Harry. He debated following them to their class, but he knew Mr. Frye was strict and he’d be sure to send Louis to the office. Defeated and tired, he settled on skipping class to go sleep in the library. He was thirty minutes into an excellent nap when Niall came up behind him and gave him a wet willy to wake him up.  
“What the- what the fuck?” Louis convulsed and attemted to get the spit soaked pinkie out of his ear. “Niall!” He swatted weakly at the blonde who dodged it and walked around to sit across from Louis at the table.  
“Oh were you sleepin? Sorry.” Niall said jokingly, knowing damn well Louis was asleep.  
Louis shook his head to bring himself back to reality. When that didn’t work he rubbed his eyes, which were stinging with fatigue.  
“Rough night?” Niall asked with genuine concern. He knew enough about Louis’ home situation to ask such a question.  
“Ha. Like you couldn't hear from your house.” Louis said flatly, pulling at the hem of his Vans t shirt.  
“To be honest I did hear some yelling. I’ve heard worse though.” Niall said, suddenly serious.  
“I think my parents have invented a hundred different ways to call me a worthless fag.” Louis said. His voice didn't ask for pity. Pity had never helped him. He didn’t need it. Niall remained silent. He knew by now that “I’m sorry” couldn’t fix anything, and pretending to understand would only piss Louis off. He just nodded his head and waited for the appropriate moment to change the subject. Louis inhaled and beat him to it.  
“So that Harry is a cool guy.” His smooth voice sounded softer and more nervous than usual.  
“Yeah he does. I’m glad you brought him to our table. I think we’ll need him to break ties when we argue about stuff.” Niall laughed as he spoke.  
“Do you think he’s kinda cute?” Louis asked, sounding like a seventh grade girl.  
“Dude, I’m not into dick.” Niall laughed again, almost too loudly.  
“Niall I didn’t ask you to suck him off.” Niall cringed at the mental image. “I’m just wondering. Do you think he’s like, attractive?”  
Niall thought for a moment.  
“I think he doesn’t look bad.” He concluded, making Louis smile slightly. “No homo.” He added quickly. This time Louis laughed.  
“God forbid I mistake you as homo.” He laughed, holding his little tummy.  
“Yeah. Next thing I know you’ll be flirting with me and trying to ugh kiss me.” The two were full on cracking up now, far too loudly for the quiet library. A teacher’s assistant walked over to their table to chastise them, but blushed and briskly turned away when Niall winked at her.  
“So do you like him?” Niall asked as if there wasn’t a beat of pause in their conversation.  
“Niall, I met him less than three hours ago.” Louis said as if it were a real answer. Niall opened up his mouth to respond, but the sound died in his throat when he saw the librarian, Mr. Hooley, walking furiously toward him. Without a pass from his class or an excuse in his head, Niall bolted out of the library. Louis laid his head back down while Mr. Hooley chased Niall.  
Late that night, as Louis hugged his knees to his chest in his pitch black room, he thought about a lot of things. He thought about the broken lock on his door, damaged from the time his dad kicked the door in. He thought about his mom and the nameless, faceless man that was surely fucking her in the grimey bathroom of the dodgy bar on the corner. He thought about the blood on his knuckles from punching the wall earlier to get some anger out. He thought about the paycheck he’d get from his boss at the Van’s store at the mall, and how he’d eek out the money for his phone bill, lunch money, gas money, and insurance. He thought about how lonely he felt, laying in the dark of a dingy old room in an unloving and beat up house. He thought about how long it’d been since someone hugged him. Lastly, as his mind wandered into a place of happiness and sleep, he thought of Harry.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day at school Louis was prepared to get more answers. He had texted Zayn several times asking about how he knew Harry was gay, but Zayn didn’t respond. Louis just had to get to fourth period. He saw Liam in the hall before second period.   
“Heyyyy, Liam.” Louis slid up next to Liam’s locker.   
“Oh hi Louis. What’s up?” Liam asked, polite as usual. Louis tried not to roll his eyes.  
“You have some classes with Harry, right?” Louis tried to sound casual, but he wasn’t sure he was pulling it off.   
“Yeah we have Honors English next period and AP Physics sixth period. Why?” Liam’s brows furrowed in confusion as he retrieved his last book from his locker and closed it gently (as opposed to Louis who always slammed his).   
“Oh nothing, I just wanna make sure we’re all looking out for him. Zayn has art with him third, and I have chemistry with him fourth. I just don’t want him to feel too lost. It’s gotta be hard coming from another country and all. I mean I’ve lived here my whole life and I still get confused in these halls sometimes.” Louis laughed lightly. Liam smiled wide.  
“That’s really nice of you to do Louis.” He said, his smile easing a bit. “You know, I never really thanked you for-”  
“Liam, despite what you may belive I didn’t give you that spot on the team. I was high as a kite and I messed up. I didn’t do anything.” Louis said looking into Liam’s chocolate eyes.  
“Louis, I’m a smart person. What you did for me saved me. You didn’t have to do it, but you did. You helped me more than you’ll ever know. At least allow me to thank you for it.” Liam said with genuine appreciation. Louis stared at him for a second and then nodded slightly.  
“I’d keep trying to convince you it wasn’t on purpose but I think that’d just be an insult to your intellegence.” Louis smiled at the corner of his mouth. “I just know about daddy issues, and it’d make me a dick if I didn’t help.”   
“You’re a good person, Louis. Thanks, and thanks for watching out for Harry even though it isn’t your job.” Liam said as he slowly turned to walk to class.   
“No problem.” Louis said to himself before walking the other direction.   
All through third period Louis debated asking for the bathroom pass and then going to Zayn and Harry’s art class. His math teacher would give him the pass, but their art teacher would probably give him a detention, so he sat in his seat doodling in his notebook and counting the seconds until the bell down. When the class finally ended, he rushed into the hall before the note of the bell died. He sprinted to his chemistry room, not stopping to talk to Stan like he usually did. Stan would just have to forgive him.  
Louis was the first student to class. Ms. Kohlman was in the back of the room sorting through lab supplies from her previous class. She raised an eyebrow at Louis as he crossed the room to his seat, struggling for breath from running up a flight of stairs at a record speed.   
“Louis, are you here early to set up another prank, because Mr. Cartic told me what you did to his projector the day you arrived early. I have to say, it sounded too predictable. I figured you would have drawn something more clever than that.” She chuckled as she rinsed out a set of flasks in one of the industrial sinks.   
“Well I had better ideas, but I figured I should save some stuff for senior year. I don’t wanna peak too early.” He smiled at her and casually glided over to his seat. When she smiled at his comment but continued looking at him expectantly he sighed and spoke just loud enough for her to hear “I’m just here to talk to Harry. I wanna make sure he’s adjusting to everything. I don’t need to walk into the cafeteria to find a group of dumb seniors messing with him or something. Remember last time?” He asked, wincing slightly. Ms. Kohlman nodded. Everyone remembered the time Louis broke up a fight during lunch. He had only been a sophmore when he jumped in front of the senior wrestlers who decided to gang up on a new freshman. The kid, Luke, was seconds away from getting his food dumped on his head when Louis intervened. Mr. Kaufman had to break up the fight. Louis had a black eye and a bloody nose, and the three wrestlers had a fair amount of scrapes and bruises themselves. They got suspended and Louis got off without any trouble after Luke had explained the ordeal to the principle. It had been the talk of the school, so Ms. Kohlman was sure to remember.  
“I think it’s great of you to do that Louis.” She said with an honest smile before turning around to finish prepping the lab. About half of the class, including Harry, had filed in by now. He made his way over to his and Louis’ table.   
“Hey Louis.” Harry said in his low British accent. Louis couldn’t hold back a smile at the sound of it.  
“Hey Harry. So how’s your second day going?” He asked casually.  
“Well, I got called ‘a big stupid’ today in the hallway by a kid that did not smell satisfactory. I also learned that saying ‘American football is the lesser football’ is a sin here. Other than that things have been pretty good.” He smiled to one side, exposing his dimples. Louis laughed lightly at what he said.   
“On behalf of American teenagers everywhere, I’d like to apologize about the dumb kid in the hall, but you’ll make it hard for me to protect you if you talk shit about America’s pastime.” Louis said while admiring the way Harry neatly unpacked his chemistry book and notebook, then he cursed himself for not grabbing his own book from his locker. He normally wouldn’t give a shit about being unprepared, but he always tried to please Ms. Kohlman. She was one of the few teachers that treated him like he had an ounce of potential, so he went out of his way to avoid disappointing her.   
“Do you mind if I look off of your book today? I forgot mine.” Louis asked Harry who finally looked relaxed. The tension eased out of his shoulders and back as he sat down, even slouching slightly.  
“Not at all. Here.” Harry pushed the book closer to the center of the table with his elbow. As he extended his arm Louis noticed a string bracelet tied around his wrist. It had strings braided together to make a rainbow flag. Louis stared at it, wide eyed. That symbol wasn’t what he thought it was, was it? Harry noticed Louis’ intense staring and blushed violently as he tucked his wrist under his other arm.   
“Harry, is that a pride bracelet?” Louis asked quietly and cautiously. It’s improtant not to shout that kind of stuff. Harry fidgeted, looking extremely uncomfortable.   
“Uh, yeah.” He said, still blushing all the way to his ears.   
“Is it…are you… is it yours?” Louis asked awkwardly.  
“My sister gave it to me… when I came out to my family.” Harry sounded uncomfortable.  
“Came out as… gay?” Louis asked. You can never be too sure and he wasn’t gonna embarrass himself by saying something insensitive or out of place.  
“Yeah.” Harry looked more tense than ever, not that Louis noticed. In his head a choir was singing, a marching band was playing, parades were marching. Harry Styles is gay.  
“Louis, is it going to be a problem because I really-”   
“No!” Louis protested,almost too eagerly. “It isn’t a problem, I’ve just never personally met another gay guy my age.” Louis wanted to wipe the look of hurt that had started to cover Harry’s face right off. It disappeared the moment he finished his sentence.   
“Did you say another?” Harry asked slowly.  
“Yeah. I’m gay too.” Louis leaned forward toward Harry a little. Harry’s look of shock was too cute to be far away from. “No one told you?” Slack jawed, Harry looked up, processing.  
“Ohhhhhh,” he smiled, “it all makes sense now. I wondered why Zayn seemed so excited when I told him about my bracelet. I thought maybe he was gay but then I saw him with his girlfriend at lunch. I thought she may have been a beard but they seemed really into each other. Okay now I get it.” Harry laughed a little, green eyes smiling at Louis.  
“You’re slow, Styles.” Louis laughed, breathless.   
“Piss off! I’m adjusting to a new environment. I have an excuse. What’s yours?” The smile on Harry’s face leaked a geniune quality that had Louis at a loss for words. He would sell his soul, he’d decided, to keep that smile in place for the rest of Harry’s time on earth. Louis was convinced that a Harry Styles smile could heal the deepest wounds. He didn’t want to talk, fearing that a smile so fragile could be wiped with indelicate words, so he just shook his head and laughed. It worked, the smile continued to heal.  
“Okay everybody! Who’s ready to talk more about covalent bonds?!” Ms. Kohlman said with mock excitement. The class feigned enthusiasm with snarky cheers.  
“Hey, I know it isn’t as fun as bulding rockets or playing with acids, but covalent bonds are the most fun to learn about.” She made her way to the front of the room, erasing the white board as she spoke. “Just to review, and get Harry up to speed, let’s talk about the other bonds real quick. Who can tell me what a metallic bond is?”   
Louis zoned out, doodling cartoon people on the lab table. He really had a negative interest in atoms and their behavior. No matter how much he appreciated Ms. Kohlman, he didn’t have the energy to pretend to be fascinated with the sexual tension of molecules too tiny to see. He didn’t even hear anything being discussed until Ms. Kohlman repeated his name.  
“Louis?”  
Shit. What were they talking about? They couldn’t still be on metallic bonds, could they? Shit. He felt blood heating his cheeks.   
“Uh I don’t remember.” There, that makes it sound like he knows, but just forgot. Beside him Harry raised his hand.  
“Yeah Harry, you wanna help him out?” Ms. Kohlman pointed a blue dry erase marker at Harry, who nodded and cleared his throat.  
“Yes. A covalent bond is a bond in which atoms share valence electrons.” Harry said. Without even looking, Louis could hear the smirk in his voice. Sly bastard. Louis found it cute that he actually cared about school.   
“Good! Look at you! You weren’t even in class for that and you know more about it than my extremely academic students.” Ms. Kohlman shot a sarcastic look at Louis, who smiled sassily at her. “Now that Harry has embarrassed all of you, I say we get started on new material.”   
Louis pretended not to notice that Harry had shifted his seat to be almost on top of him. He pretended not to enjoy it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE PLEASE leave kudos and/or comment. I lose motivation so easily, and people encouraging me is the only way I finish anything. Thanks. Enjoy!


	3. QUICK UPDATE PLEASE READ

Okay this message is for the people who are following this story and enjoy it, so if you just popped in here don't worry about it.   
First: I have two weeks of finals starting next week (I' technicall in two different schools). Due to the demands that puts on me, my update will probably not be posted until somewhere around December 23rd. When I do update I will try my best to post two chapters. By the end of Christmas break I will have two posted.

Second: it's no secret that Harry and Louis will eventually do the dirty. When I started this I planned on making it a bottom harry story because I already wrote a bottom louis chaptered fic and I wanted to expand my audience. Now though, I question that choice- so I'm putting the decision in your hands. Comment which you prefer. The one with the most comments will be the one I write into the story. If you don't care which then you can just wait for the results. 

Sorry about the delay! I'm just trying to pass. I hope you all do well with whatever you are working on these next few weeks!  
:)


	4. Chapter 4

By the end of the class, Louis was exhausted from keeping his eyes open. He needed sleep, now, but with lunch minutes away he forced himself to energize. Besides, this was prime time for talking to Harry, and he has lots of questions.  
For starters, did Harry have some hot British boyfriend who’s love could be broken by no stretch of distance? Hopefully not. Has he ever been in a relationship? God knows Louis hasn’t. Is he a top or a bottom? Let’s be honest, that would be important eventually. Louis wanted to just grill Harry with questions, but he knew Niall and Zayn would give him shit for it if he did, so he bit his tongue as he sat down at the lunch table, Harry beside him.  
“Dude, that’s insane.” Niall was in a hushed conversation with Danielle and Liam. From the look of it, Danielle was telling them a secret that had completely blown their minds.  
“I never would have guessed.” Liam said quietly with wide eyes.  
“I know!” Danielle whispered while nodding. Zayn and Perrie were lost in their own conversation at the far end of the table. Louis kicked Liam’s shin as he sat down.  
“What are we talkin’ about?” He asked, genuinely curious. Harry leaned in to listen while peeling a banana. Danielle turned toward them.  
“Kendall came out as bisexual yesterday. Somehow sexuality came up in her health class and she just admitted it. Later people were tweeting about it saying that it was just a rumor or just for attention, but she tweeted that it was true and she’s known for some time now.” Danielle smiled, enjoying the attention of the table now that Zayn and Perrie were listening into the conversation.  
“Do you think she’s serious?” Niall asked the whole table.  
“I do.” Perrie jumped in. “She’s hinted at it enough before. I mean, straight girls can do woman crush Wednesdays, but she genuinely likes the girls she puts up I think.”  
“Yeah, but wouldn’t that make her lesbian?” Liam asked.  
“Nah man, she has got to like dick at least a little bit with how many guys she’s been with.” Zayn said as if it were obvious.  
“Who honestly gives a fuck?” Louis asked with a laugh. When everyone turned to him questioning looks on their faces, he continued. “I mean it’s not like any of us are friends with her. Who cares?” He asked the group.  
“Well, it is kinda cool. I mean, she’s the first person at our school to come out as bisexual.” Danielle, suggested.  
“Really?” Harry asked, breaking his silence.  
“Yeah.” Niall spoke while chewing, a habit that always made Liam cringe. “Lou came out as gay last year, and Cara came out as lesbian a few months after him. I think there’s a freshman girl who’s out too, but I’m not sure.”  
Harry looked like he was comprehending.  
“That’s strange. At my old school tons of people were out. Gay, lesbian, asexual, transgender, bisexual, pansexual, the lot. I mean I didn’t really even come out to my school. I just said yes when a guy asked me out and then when a girl asked me out later that year I told her I wasn’t into girls.” He shrugged.  
Danielle and Liam went a little wide eyed at Harry’s revelation, but they quickly recovered, immediately comprehending. Niall and Perrie had already heard from Zayn, so they had no reaction. Louis wrinkled his forehead at the part about a boy asking Harry out. He shrugged it off though, assuming that it ended since a girl was asking out Harry afterward. He did want more information though.  
“So were there any gay couples at your school?” He asked, perfectly casual. Harry nodded while taking a drink of water.  
“Tons.” He wiped his lips with the back of his pale hand. At the end of the table, Louis could hear that Zayn and Niall had wandered into their own conversation, and Liam was talking to Perrie and Danielle. “I mean, I was in one serious relationship for a few months. There were two girls who had been dating since they were 14 or something. There were some other instances of people like, I don’t know what your term is, but basically dating but not seriously at all.  
“We call it talking.” Louis supplied. Harry nodded his understanding and continued.  
“Yeah there were lots of queer couples who just talked. Since no one cared what you did or didn’t like there wasn’t all this pressure on it. It was just like the straight kids.  
“That sounds really nice.” Louis said, a loook of longing and awe on his face. Harry agreed. “So what happened with your serious relationship, if you don’t mind me asking.” Louis tried to sound comforting and trustworthy. He really wanted Harry to open up to him.  
“Oh, um,” Harry played with his bracelet on his wrist, his eyes downcast and his lips curled in slightly, “it didn’t work out.” He said plainly. No shit, Louis thought, but he didn’t press the issue. If Harry didn’t want to talk about it, that was his right. Louis would just have to work to gain his trust.  
The next day, a Wednesday, they talked about pizza in chemistry while Ms. Kohlman helped some students in the back of the room. Harry like Domino's pizza, thin crust, cheese. Louis told him he liked Little Caesars, deep dish, pepperoni. Harry said he never tried it. Louis said he had to.  
Thursday, before class, Louis complimented Harry on his Green Bay Packers t shirt. He explained that he didn’t like the Packers but Harry’s assimilation to American culture was impressive. He also said that green was a good color on Harry, who tended to wear lots on neutral shades. The vibrance did him justice. At lunch Louis explained football to Harry. He promised to take him to some of the school football games fall of senior year.  
Friday Harry asked for Louis’ number “in case he needed help with chemistry.” Louis couldn't repress his smile as he scribbled the digits on to a scrap piece of paper. It was such a lie. Harry didn’t need help with chemistry, and Louis sure as hell wasn’t smart enough to give it, but here they were, blushing and pretending. At lunch that day they followed and added each other on social media.  
Over the weekend they texted. Harry started the conversation Friday night, while Louis was working his 5 to 9 shift at the Vans store.  
H -Is it just me or is the word “bae” a crime against humanity?  
Louis didn’t see the message until 8, an hour after it had been sent. He responded quickly while his boss ducked into the backroom to scarf down a fruit bar.  
L- I think there are worse tragedies, Styles.  
Louis put his phone on vibrate in his back pocket. It buzzed while he was helping a girl try on neon orange shoes. He couldn’t take his phone out until he was done ringing her up, which took 15 minutes longer than it should have (her purse had enough pockets to store Louis’ entire wardrobe, so of course it took her that long to find a wrinkled fifty). Louis laughed when he finally checked his phone under the counter.  
H- My mum said bae. In public. While talking to our waitress. She called break sticks “bae.”  
Louis responded quickly, trying to keep his stupid smile off his stupid face.  
L- If it’s Olive Garden bread sticks we’re talking about then she’s not wrong.  
The next text came before Louis could finish jamming his iPhone into his back pocket, so he pulled it out and checked it then, with his boss a few feet behind him. He kept it secretive enough to get away with it.  
H- It is! How did you know?  
L- Because the only time it is appropriate to use the word bae is when you’re referring to Olive Garden bread sticks. God, now I wanna go there. Damn you.  
“Tomlinson, I see that phone again and I’m taking it!” Caroline, Louis’ boss, barked. He laughed as he slid his device into his back pocket.  
“What, jealous that people don’t text you?” He quipped while he carried two empty shoe boxes to the back room. She swatted him with her lanyard as he passed. Louis felt his phone buzz, and he waited until he was in the back room before checking it from behind a shelf.  
H- Let’s go then.  
What? Go when? Was that text even meant for Louis? Had autocorrect interfered? Louis and Harry had never hung out apart from chemistry class and lunch in the school cafeteria. Now Harry just wanted to pop over to Olive Garden casually? It’d be one thing to go to Taco Bell as bros, but Olive Garden made it a date. As much as Louis really wanted to go on a date with Harry, he wasn’t ready. He was wearing black skinny jeans that were ripped at the knees and an old black and white Vans t shirt. He put a red and black snap back on just to cover the fact that his hair looked awful. Louis would not even consider going like this on a first date.  
L- What?  
He checked the time. His shift ended in half an hour, thank God. Louis’ stomach was gurgling over the over-played Macklemore blasting through out the store. With an end in sight, he stowed his phone away and went back out tho the cash register. Ten minutes later he felt the familiar buzz in his pocket, but he resisted the urge to check it. A minute later, another buzz. Maybe it was Niall. Then another buzz, instantly followed by a fourth. Caroline seemed oblivious, stacking boxes on the display at the front of the store, but she had asked Louis to put his phone away once already, and he didn’t want to take advantage of her kindness. Any other manager would confiscate his phone or even fire him. Mall policy stated that employees were not to even have their phone on their person while working, but Caroline let Louis use his during break and keep it with him. The register clock said it was quarter til 9. Louis could be patient.  
At 8:57, Caroline told Louis he was free to go, and she would lock up. He thanked her with a squeezy hug as she pushed him away and told him to go have fun. Louis checked his phone the moment his foot was outside the mall doors. He read while walking to his car, only tripping on the curb twice. He had three texts from Harry and one from Zayn.  
H- You. Me. Garden of Olives. Now. I’ll pick you up. What’s your address?  
H- Louis? I’m serious. Let’s go!  
N- Why did Harry just text me asking for your address?  
H- Okay I can pick you up in a few. Just let me know if you wanna go. I need to get out of the house.

Louis spent a moment just sitting in his car deciding what to type back. He was supposed to go crash at Zayn’s, but Zayn didn’t care what time Louis got there. Hell, Zayn was probably out with Perrie. Louis started his car while texting a few quick messages, the first to Harry and the second to Zayn.  
L- You know the Buffalo Wild Wings behind Olive Garden? I’ll meet you there in 10.  
L- I’m hanging out with Harry. I’ll come over when I’m done. Don’t wait up.  
The drive to Bdubs was only five minutes away, but Louis wanted to get there first so he could pick the seat. There was a booth in the back corner of the restaurant behind the claw machine. Most people didn’t even know it was there. Louis liked that spot.  
He got to the restaurant and asked the waitress for his chosen booth. She sat him and took his drink order. Louis played around on his phone while he waited for Harry. It was 9:15, still no sign of the lanky British teenager. 9:20, Louis had already finished his Mountain Dew and ordered a second. At 9:26 Louis decided to call it a bust and stood up. As he did so his knees clanked with another pair of legs that was fighting its way into the opposite side of the booth. His eyes traveled up, locking with a pair of wide green ones.  
“Sorry! My mum wouldn’t let me drive. She says I’m not ready for American driving, so she had to drop me off and she drives really slowly. You aren’t leaving, are you?” Harry’s voice sounded deep and flustered, just like Louis remembered it.  
“No, just stretching my legs. Hope you don’t mind that I changed our venue. I came straight from work and I feel like this is too grungy for Olive Garden.” It wasn’t a total lie. Louis also picked this place because it was a sports bar. Dudes came here all the time with other dudes. There was no pressure to look nice, because no one went to Bdubs for dates, therefore this wouldn’t count as a date.  
“Oh I didn’t know you worked. Where?” Harry asked as Louis flagged down a waitress to come take their orders. Their conversation paused as Louis asked for boneless teriyaki wings and Harry requested a diet coke and mozzarella sticks. He rested his pale hands on the table. As soon as the waitress walked away, they continued.  
“The Vans store at the mall. It’s a decent gig. It pays well and I get enough hours a week to get by. My boss is pretty cool too.”Harry politely nodded. Louis tried to relax, but the overwhelming desire to reach across the table and grab one of those hands had him distracted. It wasn’t until Harry cleared his throat that Louis realized they had been sitting in awkward silence. He wanted to hear Harry’s voice.  
“So, Harry, tell me about yourself.” He said smoothly. Harry’s face twisted up in a scoff-like laugh.  
“You know about me already.” He chuckled, a cute noise, Louis noted.  
“I know that you moved here with your parents from Cheshire, and that your sister Gemma is in ‘uni’ over there.” Louis made air quotes around the foreign work. “I know what kind of pizza you like, what phone you have, why you wear a gay pride bracelet, and how old you are. That’s the boring stuff. Tell me the fun stuff.” Louis said plainly, stirring his straw in his drink. Harry’s eyebrows raised, displaying how impressed he was with Louis’ memory.  
“Okay, let’s see. I’m a huge fan of mainstream pop music. I’ve seen the movie Love Actually over a hundred times. I fell asleep on a park bench once and woke up with my finger nails painted purple. I left it on. I have kissed two girls and three guys. I am an Aquarius. Fireworks scare me, and I think you’re really cool.” A dopey smile punctuated his sentence.  
What?  
Louis had a feeling that Harry’s brain was a ball of yarn and he just pulled at it to see what would come out. Here Louis was, trying to untangle the knot Harry just handed him.  
“Who’s your favorite singer or band?” Louis asked nonchalantly, leaning back and raising an eyebrow.  
“Ed Sheeran, but I do enjoy a bit of AC/DC. You?”  
“The Fray, The Script, Clean Bandit, a mix of things. Why do you like Love Actually?”  
“It has a star-filled cast and why wouldn’t I love a Christmas movie?”  
“Touche. If your nails had been painted any other color would you have left it?”  
“If it were red, yes. Anything else, probably not. Yellow, definitely not.”  
“Good answer. Who all did you kiss and when?”  
“My mum, several times. My neighbor Hannah when I was twelve on a dare. My boyfriend Nick when I was 16.”  
“Was Nick your serious relationship you mentioned at lunch?”  
“Yes.”  
“Who dumped who?”  
Harry broke the long-held eye contact to tear his napkin into little pieces. He took a long breath, so long that Louis wondered if he hadn’t heard the question and he was just waiting for the next. Louis was about to repeat it when Harry finally spoke.  
“Louis… I don’t want you to take this the wrong way but I’m not comfortable telling you that stuff.” He brought his eyes back to Louis with a look of pure pain and discomfort. It definitely took Louis of guard.  
“Oh, alright.” Louis said awkwardly. They sat in silence for a moment until their waitress brought their food to the table. They both politely thanked her and than went back to the silence. Louis was never one to endure silence, so he decided to break it. He leaned forward and put his elbows on the table.  
“Have I told you the story of the first time I gave a blow job?” Louis asked as he casually stabbed one of his wings with a fork and animalistically bit a chunk off. Harry shook his head, a smile pulling its way onto his face. Louis continued talking with his mouth full.  
“It was at the beginning of last school year. I was at the mall. This was before I worked at the Vans store by the way. I was in Hollister poking around looking to see if they were hiring. I needed a job and at the time I didn’t care where I worked, so I thought I’d give it a shot. Well anyway, I go in there and walk up to the register. The place was pretty much deserted except for the one guy working behind the counter. He was flipping through a copy of Out magazine, and it happened to be the copy with Adam Levine on the cover. At the time, I was kind of obsessed with Adam. I still sort of am, but that’s not the point. So I was, I guess, open mouthed staring at his magazine. I didn’t think he even knew I was there, but then, without looking up, he said ‘hot, right?’ I just kinda whispered ‘yeah gotta love Adam’ or something and I guess my voice got the guy’s attention. He looked up and, I kid you not, he was a slightly younger version of Adam Levine. So at this point I’m just flustered and embarrassed so I was gonna leave. As I turned around he said ‘Oh I was talking about myself, but yeah Adam Levine is okay I guess.’ Then he flashed me this smile that honestly made me weak and he waved me over to him. He asked my name and we got talking. Then, out of the blue, he asks me if I’d be willing to blow him behind the counter. I thought he was kidding so I said ‘yeah sure’ and I hopped over the counter. I just was trying to get a laugh out of him, but he started unzipping his pants. By then I figured it was too late to back out so I just got on my knees and went at it. I must have been horrible. I had seen porn but I had no idea how to actually suck a dick so it really must have been a mess. About five minutes in, he was close so he wasn’t really watching the door. The store manager came back from break right as he came in my mouth. I was so startled I chocked and gagged a bunch and the manager started screaming at him. He scrambled to pull his pants up and I just ran out of there. I had spit and come all over my chin and my hair was all fucked up and I bet everyone could tell what had happened. So yeah. I think the Adam-looking guy got fired because I never saw him there again.”  
Louis nodded as he concluded his story and he looked at Harry. Harry’s eyes were wide and he looked like he was trying really hard not to laugh. He failed and a guffaw ripped out of him.  
“Jesus Louis, you can’t just get on your knees for strangers in public!” He said, a little to loudly, between gasps. Louis was so amused by Harry’s laughter that he didn’t even tell him to quiet down.  
“But… Adam Levine.” Louis said, as if it excused illegal public sexual acts.  
“It’s only okay if it’s the real Adam.” Harry responded, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye and taking a sip of his drink.  
“Fine. Next time I suck a dick in a mall I’ll make sure Adam Levine of Maroon 5 is present.” Louis laughed, reaching across the table and stealing one of Harry’s mozzarella sticks. He bit off a piece and locked his eyes on Harry. He wanted to remember the way the blueish lights shined on his hair. He wanted to lock the image of his pale hands sprawled on the table in his mind, and Louis never wanted to forget what might actually be his first date with Harry Styles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not my best writing at all. I'm sorry if it seems rushed, I just really didn't want to leave you hanging. I'll probably post another long chapter over my break, and I promise the writing will be better. Just give me like a week to write it. 
> 
> As always, kudos and comments are much appreciated. :)  
> Happy holidays!


	5. Chapter 5

Louis got to Zayn’s late that night. He offered to drive Harry home, but Harry said that his mum would get him. Louis was offended until Harry explained that she gets bored without Gemma or a job, so even simple errands are fun to her. They both left the restaurant at 10:30. As Louis got into his car, he got a text from Niall.  
N- bring me chicken nuggs pls. u owe me.  
Just because he was high on endorphins from his sorta/kinda/maybe date, he went through the nearest McDonald’s drive through and bought Niall a 20 piece box. Niall’s house was the opposite direction from Zayn’s, but Louis was feeling extra generous. He left the box on the porch and texted Niall  
L- Outside you lazy fuck   
And he sent a smiling emoji for good measure. He didn’t get to Zayn’s until just after 11. Zayn had just dropped Perrie off at her house twenty minutes prior, and his parents were asleep on the far end of the house at the top floor, so the two boys had the basement to themselves.  
“How’d it go with Harry? Did you two fuck yet?” Zayn asked as he cracked open a can of tea. He adjusted his navy blue beanie on his head and leaned back onto the couch. Louis set his phone down on the carpet and rolled over onto his back, propping his head up with his arms and putting his feet up on the couch. A breathy laugh came from his nose.  
“Zayn, please. I’m nothing if not classy. I don’t give it up on the first date.”  
“Okay so that answers my other question.” Zayn laughed as he took another long swig.   
“What question?” Louis cocked his eyebrows.  
“Whether or not you pitch or catch.” Zayn absent mind-idly scrolled through Instagram on his phone. Louis laughed and rolled back over onto his stomach, reaching for the Xbox controller.   
“Bud, I’m versatile. Best of both worlds. I have no idea how Harry plays, but I would be down for anything.”  
“Ew. Good to know.” Zayn scrunched up his face. “But really, how was the date?”  
“Okay, I think. Harry seems kinda secretive about his previous love life, but I think he likes me. Hell, he texted me to talk about bread of all things. He clearly is trying to make a presence in my life.” Louis tossed Zayn the other Xbox controller. Zayn let it land in his lap and continued swiping through his phone. “I like the kid. I mean, nothing serious, I just like talking to him for now. If he’s up for more, great. If not, fine. I just think he’s a chill guy and I need that to balance me out sometimes.”  
“Hey! I thought I was your chill-to-balance-you-out guy.” Zayn spoke up, finally looking up from his screen.  
“That you are, Malik. But even you need your days off from the shit storm that is me.”  
“True that.”  
The two talked about high school gossip, until boredom got the best of them and they got lost in GTA V for the rest of the night. The rest of the weekend passed. Louis spent most of Saturday working, and all of Sunday at Niall’s house. Harry texted him through out the whole weekend, about nothing of real importance. By Sunday night they had discussed and argued about their favorite television shows (Harry likes Friends and Downton Abbey, Louis likes Breaking Bad and Supernatural) they talked about high school drama (rather, Louis continued getting Harry caught up in the ins and outs of the school), and they had established that they liked a lot of the same music. As Louis drowned out his dad’s drunk screaming at his equally intoxicated mom, who stormed out to go to the corner bar, he stayed tucked under the blankets in his dark room, smiling while texting Harry.  
Monday morning was rough. Most Mondays are rough for everyone, but for Louis it was a particularly bad day. On the way to school some distracted business man on a BlackBerry rear-ended Louis’ prized car at a stop sign, leaving a decent dent. The asshole agreed to pay for it as long as Louis didn’t get insurance involved. Normally, Louis would opt out of that, considering how important his Corvette is, but he was running late for school anyway and this man really didn’t seem like the compromising type. After getting the guy’s personal information, Louis pocketed the business card and sped to school. As he veered into the parking lot, he nearly hit Mr. Elent, the teacher on parking lot duty. Elent was not the nicest teachers the school had to offer, so he gave Louis a detention for the near-accident. Pissed, Louis trudged into school. He slept through his first two classes, earning him a lecture on respect that he promptly brushed off. By third period he heard his name called over the announcements.  
“Louis Tomlinson, please report to the office.” Danielle’s voice came sweet over the PA system. Louis rolled his eyes as the dumb asses in his class gawked and taunted him. He dragged his feet all the way to the office. As he pushed the wooded and glass door open, Danielle greeted him with a sympathetic smile. He plopped down on the waiting bench in front of her. She propped her elbows up on the tall counter and looked at him with pity. Louis had to look away from it. Danielle was sweet, but he didn’t need princess of perfection to judge him so blatantly.   
“So what am I in for?” Louis dead panned, drumming his hands on the bench.  
“I’m not sure. They don’t tell me much. I’m just the messenger.” Danielle said quietly. The office ladies behind her continued typing and talking happily. “No one seems too mad here, so I don’t think it’s anything huge.” She smoothed her blouse to avoid the awkward silence. Louis didn’t try to spark a conversation. He was too exhausted.   
“Tomlinson, come in here.” Mrs. Kudrow, the principal, called as she held her office door open for him. Her tone was softer than Louis had ever heard it. She hardly seemed mad at all. Her shoulders were set as stiff and proper as always, but her lipstick-caked lips displayed almost a smile. He trudged past her and sunk into the uncomfortable faux leather chair in front of her desk. She closed the door behind herself and made her way over to her seat. As she sat, she smoothed her hunter-green skirt and swiveled to face Louis.  
“For once in your life, Mr. Tomlinson, you are not about to get a lecture.” She said with a stiff and awkward laugh, but this didn’t relax Louis at all. If he wasn’t in trouble, why was he here?   
“I’m afraid I have some bad news.” Mrs. Kudrow said abruptly. She tucked one stray blonde hair behind her ear and made eye contact with Louis, who was suddenly worried. Was he being expelled? Sure, he’d done some shit, but nothing too bad. He could surely argue his case and convince her to let him stay. He could even get his grades up if that’s what it took, but Louis needed to stay here, with his friends. That’s all he cared about. He was preparing to beg when Mrs. Kudrow spoke again, more quietly.   
“Your father is dead.” She said as plainly as possible. When Louis looked up at her eyes he noticed they were more watery than normal.   
“What?” was all that Louis could get out of his mouth. He had dozens of questions and all of them started with what.  
“The police found him on a public bench by the post office an hour ago. It seems he had a drug overdose, and perhaps too much alcohol in his system. I am so sorry, and we can provide you whatever you need. Your mother is unreachable, but we are trying to get a hold of her. I’m so sorry Louis.”  
The post office is right next to a liquor store. The one that all the drug dealers tend to go. Louis stared closely at the calender on Mrs. Kudrow’s desk.  
“Is there anything you need?” Mrs. Kudrow leaned forward, listening closely. Louis opened his mouth, then closed it. He looked at the calender. There were scribbles in tight cursive filling each of the boxes, in varying colors of ink. He tried to decipher it, but the writing was moving. Or his vision was blurry. “Assembly for freshman” was written in red ink on the 10th. Louis stared at the words as if they held any importance to him.  
“Louis, did you hear me?” Mrs. Kudrow asked cautiously, full of concern. Louis brought his eyes up to her face. She wore nothing but pity. Louis wanted to throw up, or throw the pencil cup on her desk at the wall, or scream at her. He did none of these things.   
“May I be excused for the day?” He asked quietly, without emotion. He held his gaze on the calender once again. There was a moment of silence as Mrs. Kudrow tried to gather her thoughts.  
“Um, well, no I’m afraid not. Unfortunately you are a minor and your guardians are unreachable. You are dealing with a great deal of emotional trauma and allowing you to go off on your own unsupervised would not be the best-”  
“I’m fine. I just want to leave. I’m a safe driver and I won’t do anything stupid.” Louis kept complete control over his voice, but his eyes were watering heavily now. Mrs. Kudrow put an arm out on her desk, reaching toward Louis. She pinched her lips together in a thin line, making the pinkish lines of lipstick disappear into her pale face.   
“Louis, I’m afraid the school has a policy-”  
“Screw the policy.” Louis said, his voice finally trembling. “I need to be alone.” His eyes scanned over the same words on the cluttered calender.   
“Yes, but we are afraid that you-”  
“Stop saying you’re afraid!” Louis shouted, startling both of them. Mrs. Kudrow sat up straighter, but she held the look of pity. Louis looked straight in her eyes and stood up, waving his arms around as he yelled. “Stop looking at me like I’m some sad puppy! Stop pretending like you didn’t see this coming! I’ve lived through this stuff my whole life, so if I’m not afraid then you don’t get to be! I need to just have my reaction, and as you can see, it’s not something pleasant or appropriate. I’m only going to get myself in trouble if I stay here, so can I please just drive? I don’t care if you tell the school that I got up and ran out of here! Lie if you need to, just please let me leave. This isn’t your shit to deal with so don’t make me take it out on you.”  
Without missing a beat, Mrs. Kudrow spoke up sternly. “Louis Tomlinson. You are a student at this school and as far as I’m concerned, that makes you my child for the hours we are in session. Now if you think that we are going to punish you or hurt you in any way, you are mistaken. No one here is judging your situation, and nobody on our staff will ever abandon you. We are here to help. I know that you think your grieving process will be a burden to us, but I promise you that whatever you say to me within the next day will be brushed aside. I will hold nothing against you, I just want to help.” She finished her sentence with a loud exhale. Maybe it was a sigh. Louis continued to stare at the calender as a single tear slid out from his eye and down his neck. He swallowed but kept his lips sealed together.  
“Now, I realize that I don’t seem like a good choice for a counselor right now, as you only see me when you’re in trouble.” Mrs. Kudrow spoke quietly again. “I’ve arranged for our school’s psychologist to sit and talk with you if you’d like. If there’s a teacher you would rather speak with, I’ll send a substitute to their room and they can talk with you. If there’s a student you’d like to talk to I can see if they would be pardoned from their classes, but I cannot let you leave until I hear from your mother. I need to know that you will be taken care of. I’m only trying to help. Please, let me help you.” She leaned forward on her desk again.  
“Do I have to stay?” Louis asked in a last ditch effort to escape. When Mrs. Kudrow nodded he sighed. He blinked away tears that threatened to spill. How embarrassing. Louis never cries in front of people. He could just shrivel up in a ball right now. “Can I talk with Ms. Kohlman then?” He asked with his regained vocal control. If he’s gonna be stuck in a school office with someone, it might as well be someone he likes. He didn’t even want to consider asking for one of his friends to come in. The last thing he needs is to spill this crap on them. It would be humiliating. If he embarrassed himself in front of Ms. Kohlman, so be it. At least he wouldn’t ever have to see her after high school.  
“Sure. I’ll arrange a sub for her classes. In the mean time, you can wait in one of the tutoring rooms so you won’t be bothered by other people. Would you like me to walk you there?” She asked as she held her phone hesitantly and reached a finger out to dial.  
“No, I’ll be fine. I’ll just go to the one with the couch. If you could send Ms. Kohlman in with a water bottle, I’d appreciate it.” Louis stood up calmly from the worn brown chair. He wiped his face with the back of his hands quickly before he opened the door to her office. He closed is gently behind him and walked toward the office door with his head down. It must have been fourth period already because Danielle was no longer in the office. He pushed past the door, and instead of turning right to go to the tutor rooms, he turned left and broke out into a sprint. Before the office door had even closed, he was in the parking lot. As he started his car and peeled out of his spot, he saw an office lady chasing him, shouting into her walkie talkie. He watched her get smaller and smaller in his rear view mirror as he turned the radio all the way up. The engine drowned out the music, not that Louis could even hear it. He slammed on the accelerator and put as much distance between his and the reddish bricks of his school.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> APOLOGIES!  
> I was in the hospital for a week there and unable to reach a computer (just the flu but I'm not strong physically). Then when I got out I was too drugged up on my meds to write anything. I'm healthy and back! I'm sorry about the delay.   
> Also, I know most people only read a story for smut (I'm usually one of those people). This is eventually going to contain some, but I plan on making this an actual story, so if you're only here for porn, I suggest you come back in a few chapters.   
> There are plenty of triggers already, and I think there may be some later as well. I will do my best to use warnings, but please be aware that I am not always sensitive to these things, so I may make a mistake. If I fail to put a warning that you think should be there, please let me know in the comments. My goal is not to upset anyone.
> 
> As always, I love feedback! Thanks guys!


	6. Chapter 6

By the time Louis reached campus, he had already cried all the tears he needed to shed, which was a total of about 6. The task of driving was powerful enough to distract him. Two hours behind the wheel was enough to make Louis numb. He wasn’t angry, sad, or scared anymore. Now, all he needed to do was keep himself busy, and he had the perfect strategy.  
Cornell University had been a school to Louis for all of his high school years. Just a two hour drive west from his own town, Cornell was close enough to be less than a pay check worth of gas, but it was far enough to not be recognized.   
The first time Louis went there was with Stan. Stan was held back a year, so he got his license at the end of his freshman year. When Louis became a freshman, Stan was the cool sophomore that could drive anyone anywhere. With his parents never near short of funds, he could afford long car rides and expensive fake I.IDs. Louis was smart, and he became friends with Stan as soon as he set foot in his high school. At first the friendship was formed on the perks of having Stan’s money and resources, but soon the two became close. Stan took Louis to Pompeii, the student night club at Cornell, half way through his freshman year. The place instantly became Louis’ rendezvous stop. Since you only had to be 18 to get in, Stan could get them both IDs. Once they were in, Stan would try to find someone who would buy them drinks for a little extra cash. The older college students jumped at the opportunity for money. It was always easy to have a good time when Stan was around with his endless flow of cash, but without Stan, Louis had to adopt a different strategy.   
At the end of sophomore year, Louis bought his prized car. He saved up seven months worth of pay checks from the Vans store, as well as taking a decent loan from Stan (Stan insisted that he didn’t have to pay it back, but Louis planned on having his debt paid by the end of high school). He bought it off Caroline’s husband, who was selling it so they could buy a nice house to raise kids in. The car had been beat up when Louis bought it, so it was cheaper than it would usually be. After fixing it up himself, with the help of Zayn, Louis had the thing looking almost barely newish. To celebrate his victory, he drove to Cornell and went to Pompeii. Without Stan’s money, Louis couldn’t pay someone to buy him drinks. He was thinking up a strategy when a man in his mid thirties grabbed his ass.  
“Sorry, kid. The thing has been taunting me for almost an hour now. I had to touch.” He said in a gruff voice. His black hair had a few hints of gray here and there. The man looked well kept and expensively dressed. He was probably at Cornell to get his masters or PhD or something. He smiled at Louis, predatory. “Oh, you look nervous. Calm down. Let daddy buy you a drink.” The man said reassuringly as he waved the bartender over.   
And so began many nights of Louis driving two hours to Pompeii to get older guys to buy him drinks so that he’d be tipsy enough to feel shameless as he sucked them off in the bathroom. If a guy was nice or hot enough, Louis would let them fuck him over the sinks.   
Now, with his dad dead and his mom MIA, Louis figured he needed to get lost in pop music remixes, weak drinks, and any strangers dick.   
He flashed his fake I.D to the bouncer, Paddy. By now the over sized man knew Louis, so he smiled at him. Louis was certain that Paddy knew he was under aged, but he didn’t seem to care. Louis walked in and re-adjusted his maroon tee shirt so hit exposed his collar bones more. It was late March, but the weather had turned unseasonably warm, so Louis was only wearing the tee with black skinny jeans and white Vans. The look showed off his assets without making him look like a complete twink. He hated looking twinky. That’s part of the reason he gor tattoos.   
While a overly techno remix of Take Me Home filled the club, Louis made his way to one of the round tables a few feet from the bar. Since it was a Monday afternoon, the dance floor was completely empty, as well as the DJ stand. The bar tender was a young woman, different from the usual guy who was there on weekend nights when Louis typically made the trip to the club. There was a group of three college girls giggling at one of the many round high top tables. Two men were talking together and nursing beers up at the bar. The place looked deserted. Louis considered flirting with the girls to get a drink, but he tossed the idea out. He wasn’t that desperate. He decided to call it a bust and leave the dimly lit club, stepping back into the sunshine. He waved goodbye to Paddy, who responded with a minuscule tip of his head. As his feet hit the pavement of the sidewalk, Louis sighed dejectedly. He couldn’t go back home. He needed to be away from everything. He knew Zayn, Niall, Liam, and even Harry would be searching for him since he missed lunch. If his phone weren’t on silent, it would probably be beeping like a heart monitor right now. He knew he had to talk to people eventually, but in that moment, he needed to be numb. Getting lost in Cornell (or a drink) was his only chance of that. He huffed and started walking to Middle Ground, the coffee shop across the street.   
The little bell hung above the door chimed as he walked in. Thankfully, everyone was too lost in their own business to look up. The whole place smelled comforting in that odd way that coffee shops do. Even though he had only been in two different Starbucks, Louis appreciated the aroma that coffee shops had. It made him feel studious, even if he was planning to just mindlessly get on Twitter.   
Louis awkwardly and briskly shuffled his feet to the counter. He wasn’t much of a coffee drinker, and the menu was a confusing mix of mocha-carma-iced-french vanilla-low fat- Colombian imported-frappa-lattes.   
“What can I get you?” The girl behind the counter asked, sounding as artificially sweetened as all the drinks here. Her smile seemed too rehearsed.   
“Um, I uh” Louis squinted at the menu. It was like reading another language. Behind him he heard heels clacking on the hardwood floor, approaching. Someone was in line behind him. Crap. “Uh I’ll take a…let me have one of…um,” he was panicking. The girl behind the counter was still aggressively smiling at him, which at this point only added to Louis’ discomfort. The woman behind him must be pissed. Louis turned around to her.  
“You know what, you can just go in front of me. I’ll be a while deciding.” He said sheepishly. The woman, tall with dark brown hair and red reading glasses propped on her nose, smiled a genuine, warm smile at him. Her teeth, glowing white, seemed less weapon-like than the barista’s.   
“Are you sure?” She asked, and it sounded funny. Louis nodded to her and blushed, stepping aside so she could place her order. She swiftly asked for a refill on her tea, handing a rounded white mug and saucer back to the barista. Louis studied the woman in front of him. Why was her voice so weird? She seemed normal enough, wearing a navy blue rain jacket and red heels. She looked to be in her mid forties. The barista handed her a new tea in a fresh mug and accepted the $5 bill the woman slip across the counter. When the woman turned around, she caught Louis staring at her. An amused grin pulled across her face.   
“You seem lost.” She said simply, with a British accent. Obviously! That’s why it sounded different! She looked at Louis expectantly, almost concerned.  
“Yeah, I am a little bit. I’m not a coffee man.” He said, hoping he didn’t sound as stupid as he felt. The woman smiled another genuine smile and tipped back her head to laugh.  
“Oh, I was worried. Here, love, let me buy you a tea.” She turned to the barista whole already reached for a mug.  
“No it’s alright I can get my own.” Louis waved her off politely. She shook her head.  
“I’ll pay.” She said, leaving no room for argument. “If you don’t like it I don’t want you wasting your money, since I’m the one making you try it.”   
Louis tried to deny her offer, but once again was silenced. The woman seemed intent on getting him to drink tea. If Louis hadn’t had such a shitty day, he would have tried harder, but after everything he decided to just accept a drink from a stranger who wouldn’t expect a blow job in return. At least he didn’t think she did. He shook his head and looked at the ground, using his hands to rub at his temples.   
When the tea was ready, Louis turned to go sit in the back, but the woman tentatively grabbed his arm.   
“Come sit with me. I need your opinion on something.” She said in the same insistent tone. Louis let himself be dragged over to the small table by the window. The little surface was covered in brochures, folders, and a laptop. When they sat down, the woman clicked the laptop closed and set it on the wide window sill, which was painted a cozy blue. It made a comfortable contrast with the light green of the walls.   
“What’s your name?” The woman asked in her chirpy accent.   
“Louis.” He said as he raised his mug to his lips to blow on the steaming liquid. It certainly smelled good. The woman flicked him one of her extra sugar packets, then went to sweetening her own drink. Louis followed her movements, trusting her on all matters tea related. She was British after all.  
“Hello Louis. I’m Anne.” Before Louis had a chance to say a pleased to meet you, Anne went on. “So can you tell me what it is you like about Cornell?” She put all of her empty sugar packets on top of the brochures, which Louis now identified as college brochures. NYU. Colombia. Manhattan College. Cornell took up most of the table space.  
Louis wrinkles his forehead. He was trying to focus, he really was, but the events of the whole day were creeping back into his conscious thoughts. He winced, blinked, sipped his drink, then returned to the conversation, his tongue burning from the heat of the tea.  
“I like how easy the campus is to navigate. I’ve never gotten lost. And it seems like most people here are friendly.” He said, nodding toward the counter where the distracted barista was wiping off some mugs and smiling.   
“How are the classes?” Anne asked, looking at Louis and sipping her tea.  
“Oh, I’m not actually a student here.” Louis said, putting his hand on his chest for emphasis. “I just come here to hang out and clear my head.” He said with an honest laugh. A look of surprise covered Anne’s face, and then faded into one of amusement.   
“I’m sorry Louis! I’m just so focused on hunting down a good school for my son that I’m badgering everyone who looks like they have an opinion on universities.” She said, swiping her bangs across her forehead and tucking them behind her ear. “Well then, since I bothered you, why don’t you talk to me. Why are you clearing your head?” She seemed completely concerned and genuine, which Louis didn’t like. If she were just asking to make small talk he would be able to say something like “just stress” and that would be the end of it, but her maternal expression told Louis that she expected a real answer. Louis would never open up to anyone about his problems, especially not a stranger, but his emotionally taxing day got the best of him. He wondered if there was something in the tea making him completely act unlike himself.   
“My dad died.” He said, without emotion. He stared at the inside of his mug. The tea still smelled heavenly, but he was losing his appetite, and the sugar was too much for him.  
“I’m so sorry to hear that Louis. When did it happen?” Anne asked. She propped her elbows on the small cluttered table and wrapped her hand around her mug. She leaned in toward him. He felt slightly smothered.  
“This morning.” He said, looking out the window. He focused his vision away from Anne, but he could still see her jaw drop from the corner of his eye.  
“Oh my god. That’s… awful. Was it unexpected?” She seemed slightly cautious, as if she were afraid to ask the wrong question and send Louis off in a tearful fit. Louis didn’t need her to be afraid of that. He would not cry in front of two people today, no matter what else happened.   
“No.” He turned back to Anne, making deliberate eye contact with her. “It was going to happen eventually. The bastard drank so much, it’s a miracle he even lasted as long as he did. Not to mention the drugs.” Louis mumbled the last part, but Anne still heard it. Her face was one of shock, but not pity.  
“How is your family coping?” She asked, clearly trying to break the awkward air that had started to set in. Louis barked a sarcastic laugh.  
“The only family I’ve talked to in the past six years was him and my mom, and she is probably celebrating right now by taking body shots off a stranger.” Louis’ voice was filled with emotion suddenly. Rage, hatred, and disgust was out in the air now, venomous in the cozy coffee-filled atmosphere. Anne didn’t back up from Louis like he expected her to. She kept an even expression on her face.  
“I’m sorry. That was harsh. I shouldn’t be talking about this.” Louis said, suddenly ashamed. This woman only asked about him to make conversation, not to be his therapist. He shouldn’t take out his issues on a sweet, unsuspecting lady. “Why don’t you talk to me about all this?” Louis put a palm across the scattered brochures and folders. Anne seemed hesitant at first, but then she accepted the fact that Louis was shutting his emotions back in, and he would not bring them out again. After a few seconds of silence, she smiled and sat up straight. Louis sipped his tea again, much cooler now, and listened as she started chattering away.  
“I’m doing research on schools for both me and my son. I want to get my PhD and he’s going to university in a few years. I have no idea how this whole process works, so I’m gathering as much information as possible. I’d like for him to go somewhere in New York. I don’t think he will do well far away. I think I’ll get my degree somewhere around here, and I believe he wants to go to New York City. I’m a bit apprehensive about letting him loose in such a populated place, and I’m trying to form an argument against it. Have you ever been there?” Anne’s face radiated happiness at talking about her son. Louis couldn’t help but match her smile.  
“Yeah, once. In eighth grade my class took an over-night field trip to some museums there, then we went to Ellis island the next day. I love the city.” Louis remembered the trip clearly. He and Niall got in trouble for running off to explore while they were in some museum. They went and bought hot dogs from a street vendor before the teacher caught them. It had been one of Louis’ favorite memories. In the city, Louis could get lost in the crowd. He didn’t stand out as the gay kid, because there were gays all over the place! He wasn’t the only one with daddy issues in the mix of millions of people! He was just another face going by, and no one was going to give a second thought about him. Louis would love to end up there, but he needed a plan first. He wasn’t going to college. Maybe he could work as a mechanic since he was good with cars? Is there even a high demand for low-level mechanics without actual certification? Probably not. Maybe Louis could work as a waiter at an expensive restaurant? No, the tattoos would get him in trouble. Louis needed to start planning better.  
“I’m sure it’s a lovely place, but I don’t think it’s safe for my son. He’s a brilliant boy on paper, but he’s too trusting. He would be the kid to accept food from a stranger and get drugged by it. I love him dearly, and I’d hate to see that happen to him. I think he’ll be better off in a smaller community. He, unfortunately, is not even bothering to listen to my argument. He has this romanticized version of New York in his head, and his heart is set on getting to it. I’ve always encouraged my kids to follow their dreams, but I also want them to be realistic and know their limits, you know?”   
Louis admired the way Anne spoke. She seemed so passionate. Her emotions poured into every word she said. It really was infectious.  
“I can understand that.” Louis said, nodding and looking back and fourth between the sunny sidewalk outside and Anne’s inquisitive face. “I mean, I’m not a parent, but I’m a son. My parents never encouraged me in any fashion, and look where it’s gotten me. I’m a tatted teen with no real career goal or abilities. I think that your son is lucky to have a mom who’s so concerned for his well being. It doesn’t matter if you steer him away from what he thinks he wants. You have the best intentions, and your son ought to realize how fortunate that makes him.”   
Something on Anne’s face changed. She seemed to be oozing graditude, as if she’s been waiting for someone to say that to her for years. She laughed quietly and shook her head, looking at the floor.  
“Louis, you sound like the best son a parent could have. You’re so understanding.” Her face was a mix of awe and disbelief.  
“Hardly!” Louis barked out a laugh. “I’m a damn mess! I just know how to tell people what they need to hear.” Louis laughed into his tea, taking a long swig and finishing it off. A loud grandfather clock suddenly chimed from the back of the coffee house, telling them it was three o’clock. Anne jumped, suddenly worried. She quickly started packing all of her things up and shoving them into a floral patterned tote bag.  
“Oh! I lost track of time! I need to get back to pick my son up. He’s staying late after school for a club. At this rate he’s going to be there all night! I best be off.” She moved the whole time she talked, and it amazed Louis that she was able to pack up everything so swiftly and quickly. Once she had all of her belongings gathered, she stopped and looked at Louis with what he imagined was a motherly look.  
“Louis, you’re a lovely boy. I wish you the best of luck.” Her words were sincere and final as she walked toward the door.  
“Thank you for the tea ma’am. You take care of your son.” He said raising his empty mug to her. She smiled, nodded, and left, her heels clacking down the concrete stair of the entry way. Louis stayed in the old wooden chair for another ten minutes, ripping the napkin she left into little pieces. After debating with himself over what to do, he stood and carried his mug and saucer as well as Anne’s mug and saucer over to the bin for used dishes. He swept up all the bits of napkin, and threw them away. Finally, he thanked the barista again, and stepped back into the March air. It was cooler than it was before. Louis would need to wear a jacket in the car ride home. He took a half hour walk around campus, and then went back to his car. As he screeched out of the campus, he hummed to himself, opting out of the loud radio. He put all of his focus into the two yellow lines in the middle of the road and set off for the two hour ride back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was a fast update for me wow. I am proud to say I have figured out the plot of this story! I was kinda making it up as I went but now I know and it should be easier and faster for me to write. I'm excited!
> 
> Thanks for reading, suggest this to your friends, and please leave feedback!  
> Love you guys :)


	7. Chapter 7

“What the hell happened to you?!” Niall asked Louis before he could even step in the door of his house.   
“I’ll tell you everything, but first can we sit down? I’m tired from that drive.” Louis mumbled, his body feeling to heavy for his low amount of energy. He pushed past Niall and made his way to the living room couch. “Are your parents home?” Louis questioned before he began.   
“Mom is at the grocery store, she should be back in twenty minutes, and Dad is still on his business trip.” Niall shut the door tightly and made his way over to the large arm chair beside the couch. He offered half a can of Coke to Louis, who accepted it gladly. After taking a long chug, he started to talk.  
“My dad died this morning. The son of a bitch finally bit it.” He looked Niall in the face, half smiling. Niall seemed a little disturbed by his emotions, or lack thereof. Before he could ask any more questions, Louis continued in a monotone.  
“They said it was an OD mixed with a shit ton of alcohol. He was laying in front of the post office when they found him. Kudrow called me in during third period to tell me. I didn’t wanna deal with other people so I just left. I went to go get drunk but I couldn’t get my hands on anything decent, so I just drove around.”  
Niall walked to the fridge, grabbed two more Cokes, and came back to the chair. He never took his eyes off of Louis as he did so, almost like he expected him to run off as soon as he stood up. After he handed one to Louis, he finally spoke.  
“I’m really sorry about that man.” He seemed unsure of what he was saying, like he didn’t know if it was the right thing to say or not. Based on the harsh laugh that came out of louis, he assumed it was not the right thing.   
“Please, Niall. We know that man was horrible. Just his presence on this planet made it inherently worse. He’s gone.” Louis raised his full Coke can in a toast. After a near full minute of hesitation, Niall carefully clanked his can with Louis’.   
“Well then I guess I’m glad for ya, but Louis, you gotta be more careful.” This time Niall sounded less cautious and more honest. Louis wrinkled his forehead in a silent question, so Niall went on. “I’m just sayin, the drinking might not be the best option given the circumstances.” Niall swallowed the rest of what he wanted to say.   
Louis scrunched up his face in anger and disbelief.   
“Niall, are you comparing me to my dad?” His voice went up an octave, revealing his defensiveness. Niall was quick to shake his head.  
“No no no no no.” He said, putting his Coke can on the table inbetween the couch and the chair. “I’m just saying you never know who from the school will be watching you. I mean, surely their going to keep an eye on you if they know that your mom isn’t really around. Just be careful bud.” Niall still seemed overly cautious. It was starting to annoy Louis. Niall was always the one person he could trust to treat him as if he were any other regular teenager. No one else was fully aware of his messed up family life. Even Zayn was in the dark about a few things, having never been to Louis’ house. Niall was the one who knew everything, from start to finish, and still managed to ignore all of it for Louis’ sake. Now here he was, trying to counsel Louis.   
“I don’t need this from you.” Louis mumbled, standing up. Niall urged him to sit back down, but Louis was already halfway out the door. Before leaving he turned and called over his shoulder “You know I’d rather die than end up anything like my dad.” Then he closed it with a mild slam.   
Louis drove around town for another hour, burning through his gas money and watching signs pass by. Progressively they lit up as the sun set. He played his music too loudly and ignored the judgmental looks he got from strangers at red lights. By seven thirty he decided to call it a day, a horrible, shitty, awful day, and go back home.   
Stepping into his house he was greeted by the TV playing idly in the living room. He heard no noises coming from the kitchen, so he figured he was alone. As he stepped past the fuzzy box screen playing the news, he thought he saw a shadow on the stairs. Cautiously he walked toward it, but soon realized it was the headlights of a car passing outside.He climbed the stairs, littered with cans, bottles, napkins, empty lipstick tubes. Kicking past the clutter, he reached the hallway, where his room was at the end. The door on the right was his parent’s bedroom. They shared the queen bed back in the early days, when they were a happy family. Louis vaguely remembers a time when his dad only had one drink a night. A time when he played football with Louis in the yard. He remembered when his mom used to take him shopping at Goodwill for new clothes. She always tried to find him the nicest, newest looking clothes so that he wouldn’t get made fun of. That was all before his Nan died and gave all of her money to his aunt, just to spite his mom. The family had been on the verge of being evicted from their home, and they were heavily relying on the extra cash. It was around that time that Louis’ dad lost his job at the steel mill. He turned to the bottle to take the stress away. Johanna, his mom, was still determined to save the family. She worked days as a waitress at Applebee’s and during the nights she was a bartender at the sketchy bar on the corner. She became so distant every time she returned home, exhausted, to see Mark staring at the tv with dead, drunk eyes. She would scream and throw things to get his attention, but his gaze never left the blurry screen. Louis used to wait for his mom to trudge up to bed. Then he would go hug her and try to lay next to her in the bed that seemed too large and empty now, but she would shoo him away. She would plaster a smile on her wary face and beg him to go to sleep so he wouldn’t miss the school bus in the morning. After a while, she started coming home with bigger wads of cash and less dignity. Louis was too young to know why. Eventually she wouldn’t even look at Mark unless he screamed at her to go out and buy more beer, to which she would scream at him to get his fat ass up and do it himself. Sometimes Mark would be too drunk to reply. Other times he’d take a swing at Johanna. It was around that time that Louis learned that his family would never be whole again.  
As he stood in the dimly lit hallway, staring at the grungy queen bed, he fell to his knees. He brought his little hands up to his mouth, and let every emotion fall from his eyes. He screamed, he punched the wall, he begged pleas into musty air that never seemed to fulfill what he asked. Through blurry vision, he watched his tears fall into the dirty carpet.   
Louis had no idea how long he sat there, crying and begging, but when he finally stood up to walk to his room his knees hurt from being cramped in that position for so long. He sniffed and wiped his eyes as he pushed open his bedroom door. He plugged his phone into the wall and saw it light up with another message from Niall. He was sure Zayn had texted him too, wondering where he was. He left his phone there on the floor. Then, without changing his clothes or brushing his teeth, he collapsed on to his bed and fell asleep.  
When Louis’ alarm first went off in the morning, he was blissfully pulled from a dream. He has no recollection of what the dream was about, but he immediately missed the feeling of being lost in sleep. As he stretched and rubs his eyes, he realized where he is and why his throat was so scratchy. He cried last night. He cried because his dad was gone. His dad was gone and as horrible as Mark could be, Louis was now fatherless. Since his mom was still MIA, he was a complete orphan. Before he allowed himself to contemplate what that meant, Louis pushed himself up from his bed and started his day.   
By the time Louis was sitting in his first period class, he had been badgered by too many people. His phone was filled with texts from the man who hit his car the day before, all saying that he could drop off a check as soon as Louis sent him an address. Louis texted him exactly where to go and told him to leave it in the mailbox any time afternoon. He also had two texts from Niall, apologizing profusely. He had three from Zayn asking where he was and calling him a dick for not responding. He had one from Liam, saying he heard about what happened and was very sorry. Finally he had 10 from Harry, all a variation of “LOUIS WHERE ARE YOU I HEARD ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED I’M WORRIED PLEASE RESPOND I CAN HELP YOU JUST TALK TO ME.” After reading through all of them, he felt a little guilty. His friends really didn’t deserve the scare of Louis just running off like that. They also didn’t need to be roped into his pathetic issues, though.   
Before first period ended, Louis was called to Mrs. Kudrow’s office, where she sternly informed him that his behavior was not respectful, but he would not be punished as long as he promised never to pull a similar stunt again. She also asked Louis if he found his mom. He lied and said she had been sleeping at home. Mrs. Kudrow bought it when Louis fake cried about his dad. She offered him a tutor room to sit in, but he “composed” himself and went to his classes. He dragged himself through his first three periods in a haze. By fourth period, he had almost forgotten about his dad, that is until Harry reminded him.  
“Louis! You’re okay!” Harry whispered with wide eyes as Louis entered the chemistry room. Harry had been waiting for him by the door. Louis nodded wordlessly and walked to his seat. Harry followed, unnaturally quiet, as if he expected Louis to explain yesterday. Louis was content with ignoring it, so he averted Harry’s overwhelming gaze by digging through his backpack for a pen. After a full thirty seconds, Harry spoke up.  
“Louis, I was so worried about you.” He seemed to be buzzing with curiosity, relief, and shock. Louis almost felt bad for not opening up to him, but then he remembered that he was in school, and class was going to start in two minutes. “Please just talk to me.” Harry begged, putting one of his hands on Louis’ wrist to get him to pause. Louis looked down at the pale hand on him. The hand that had a rainbow bracelet on the bottom of it. The hand that belonged to the boy who just admitted he was worried about Louis. The nails that looked freshly bitten.   
“Fine,” Louis sighed, “but I don’t wanna talk here. Are you free after school today?” Harry seemed to hesitate, thinking.  
“I have to go to the band room real quick. It should only take ten minutes. Meet me there?” Harry held his breath, waiting for the response as if his entire existence depended on it. It was so endearing, Louis had to smile.  
“Sure thing, band geek.” He laughed, taking any hint of insult out of the nick name. Harry smiled back, wide and filled with complete relief.   
All through lunch, everyone awkwardly ignored the elephant in the cafeteria. Niall seemed to be on pins and needles as he cracked more jokes than usual. Zayn and Perrie cuddled up to each other silently, just listening to the conversation. Danielle was absent, so Liam talked to Niall, Harry and Louis. The conversation seemed a little forced. Louis found himself taking sips of his water whenever he felt awkward, and by the end of the period he was sloshing from all the liquid in his stomach.   
The end of the day came surprisingly quick. Louis found himself blowing bubbles with his gum outside of the band room after what seemed like only an hour of class. He attributed it to the fact that he slept through all of his afternoon classes. Now here he was, drumming his hands on the grey tiled floor with his back against a cool locker.  
He checked the time on his phone for the third time. It was almost three. Harry should be done with whatever he was doing in there. Louis wanted to put his ear against the door to investigate, but he decided to distract himself by playing Dots on his phone. He had beaten his record twice by the time Harry pushed the heavy wooden door open. As he walked out, he offered a hand to Louis.   
“I’m so sorry that took so long! I didn’t know it would, I swear!” Harry sputtered apologies and he pulled Louis up from his sitting position. Louis waved him off.   
“Hey, it’s fine. I got no where to be.” He said casually as he brushed off his black skinny jeans. “So where do you wanna go?” Harry shrugged.  
“Your town. You pick.” He said with a smile. They walked out to the parking lot in silence. Oddly, it didn’t feel as choking as the poignant pauses in Louis’ conversations with his other friends. He felt at ease, as if Harry was radiating contentment at the situation, and Louis happened to catch it.  
“No way.” Harry said suddenly, running ahead of Louis as they walked to the back of the lot where Louis’ car sat idle and alone in all it’s scarlet glory. “This is your car?” Harry squealed, fucking squealed. He giddily jumped around it, raking his view over the machine. Louis wanted to burst with how cute Harry’s excitement was, but he played it off, acting smug.  
“Yup.” He tossed his bag into the back seat and folded the top down, since it was a warm, dry day. “Got this baby from a friend at half price. It was nearly junk when I got my hands on it. I’m really into cars, so I studied up and employed the help of the ever-incompetent Zayn. We spent a chunk of our summer on it this past year. Now she’s running and looking fine.” He ran a hand over the edge of the windshield. “Well, except for the dent back there. Not my fault, I swear. I’m getting it fixed this weekend.” Louis opened his door and slid into the driver seat. Harry followed his actions and buckled himself into the passenger seat.  
“Your car is a girl?” Harry raised an eyebrow in amusement. Louis turned toward him.  
“Yes. She’s mine. We are happy together. Is that going to be an issue?” He said with mock-seriousness. Harry put his hands up in defense.  
“I’ve got nothing against her! I’m just a little jealous.” As the last word slid off his tongue, he smirked and bit his bottom lip. Louis found himself unable to pull his eyes away from the perpetually plump lip being pressed colorless by Harry’s teeth. It was a deliberate gesture, surely, but the subtlety of it was hotter than it had any right to be.   
“You gonna start this baby up?” Harry asked, jerking his head in the direction of the key sitting idly in the ignition. Once again, Harry manages to look so innocent, so soft, as he spouts pure sex appeal. Louis forced himself to swallow and start the car. He bit the inside of his cheek, using the pain to curb his filthy mind. He turned up the music loud enough to pause the conversation while he drove to his destination.  
When he pulled into Starbucks, Louis saw Harry chuckle from the passenger seat.  
“What?” Louis asked, genuinely nervous. Was Harry laughing at him? Laughing at his car? Yeah, sure it made some funny sounds sometimes, but it was a nice car! Was it his driving? No, couldn’t possibly be that. Louis was an excellent driver. Why the hell was Harry laughing?  
“It’s just,” Harry unbuckled his seat belt and got out of the car. Louis scrambled after him. “You’re so unpredictable.” When Louis continued to stare at him with a questioning look, Harry elaborated. “Tough guy, all tattoos and swear words, with you’re prized muscle car. You look like the type of guy to take me to a sports bar, which you actually have done, but now you’re taking me to get Starbucks. I like how contradictory you are.” Harry had the entire conversation over his shoulder as he walked in, as if what he was saying wasn’t filling Louis with a tempest of emotions. Was that a compliment or a sarcastic insult? What did any of that even mean? Harry was a master of being dramatically cryptic.  
After they’d ordered, they sat down in a booth in the back. It was fairly empty in the dining room, so they had plenty of privacy. Louis had ordered tea, finding the drink to be surprisingly addicting. Since Anne had ordered him one back at Cornell, Louis had been craving more. Harry ordered a white chocolate mocha. Louis took note at how naturally the words flowed from Harry. The kid must be a coffee drinker.  
“So, why did you disappear yesterday?” Harry asked simply, before Louis had even completely sat down.   
“You just get right to it then?” Louis laughed, chewing on a plastic drink-stir. Harry didn’t crack a smile. He seemed almost exasperated as he responded.  
“Yes. It’s been bothering me all day. Please just talk to me. I want to help.”  
The problem lies in how genuine Harry was. Here he was asking, even begging, for Louis to open up to him. He wasn’t asking because he wanted dirt on Louis or his life. He wasn’t even asking in order to satisfy his own curiosity. Harry wanted Louis to spill his worries and problems and history because he wanted to put an end to the suffering. Harry hadn’t even known Louis a full month, and here they were, sitting together, Harry urging Louis to stop bearing his cross alone. It was painful to look at Harry’s pleading eyes, but Louis knew he couldn’t explain everything to him. Harry was too innocent. He was all compassion, gratitude, and kindness. Louis couldn’t tarnish that with spilled whiskey, fading bruises, and hopelessness.   
“My dad died. It’s not a big deal. I just needed to clear my head. I took a long nap and forgot to check my phone. I’m fine, really.” Louis stared directly into Harry’s eyes. They seemed almost brown inside the dim room.   
“Louis, I’m so sorry. That’s truly unfair and I can’t even imagine how terrible that must feel.” Harry’s eyes looked shiny. Louis had to look away from them before they got any wider with sincerity. He sipped his drink rather than responding. Harry picked up on the deliberate silence and quietly inquired further. “Where you close with him?”   
Louis almost chocked on his tea. The liquid burned his throat as he forced it down. Of all the questions, Louis had not braced himself for that one. The answered came out before he could formulate and censor it in his head.  
“Yeah. He was my inspiration when I was little. He got my mom pregnant just out of high school. In this town, men got women pregnant all the time, and they always left town the moment she started showing, but not him. My dad wife-d her. He even took her to a nice little church just twenty minutes north of here. He got a job at the steel mill to pay for me and my mom. He was so smart, incredibly intelligent. He was going to be an engineer, but he gave it up for us. He treated mom like a princess because he knew she had given up her dream of being an actress in order to raise me. He was always so quiet, but when he got loud it was because he was laughing.” Louis smiled at the memory, a lump beginning to well up in his throat. He looked down at his hands and forced himself to remain calm. “Then he lost his job. He got let go when the mill was bought by the new company. He drowned himself in alcohol and became the sad excuse for a man he was when he died. He OD-ed on the sidewalk in front of a liquor store. I guess in the end, he did leave my mom alone with me.” Louis stopped talking, knowing that he would cry if he continued. He didn’t look up from his hands, not even when Harry broke the silence that had lasted over a minute.  
“Lou, you’re one of the most complex people I’ve ever met.” Harry’s voice was awestruck and tinged with pain. Louis barked a dry laugh.  
“That’s your take away?” He said, smiling as he finally looked at Harry again. The green eyes matched the emotions of his voice.  
“Do you have any idea how many people would have been destroyed by a life story like that?” Harry ignored Louis’ question, too en-captured in his own awe. “It almost broke me just listening to it.” Harry set his creme colored cup on the mahogany table. He took Louis’ hands in his. Despite the coldness of Harry’s hands, Louis was overheated by the gesture. There was nothing forward about it. It was comforting and even saddening, how much force Harry put into his next words.  
“Louis, you’re shatterproof.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love you guys so much.


	8. Chapter 8

After their emotion-filled coffee date (could you technically call it that since Louis didn’t drink coffee?), Louis and Harry seemed even more in-tune than before. The confessions made Louis feel safe around Harry. The two of them flowed like a clean pen on worn paper. They were now bonded, in Louis’ eyes. They spent more time together during school when they got the chance, and on weekends when Louis wasn’t working. They mostly went to restaurants. Louis insisted that Harry needed to try every bit of food America had to offer, so that meant local gluttony for the both of them. Everyone around school saw them together, and soom rumors started. Louis and Harry were blissfully unaware of them until lunch one day, when Liam seemed very concerned about them.  
“Guys, there’s a rumor going around. If you want me to shut it down I will.” He said as he swore his loyalty with his chocolate colored eyes. For a moment, Louis swore he could hear Harry’s heart stop. He knew that Harry avoided negative attention like the plague, especially in the new school. Thankfully, Niall spoke up before Harry could experience full cardiac arrest.  
“Ha! Yeah! Everyone is sayin you guys are a couple!” He laughed and clapped a hand on Louis’ shoulder. The moment it registered in their brains, Louis and Harry started laughing.   
“Really? Why?” Harry asked, beaming.   
“Maybe it’s because you literally won’t take a shit without each other?” Zayn said, laughing into his drink and pulling Perrie closer to him.  
“You two would be cute together.” Danielle admitted, blushing a little. Harry threw an arm around Louis’ shoulder and pulled him close.  
“Let’s give everyone something to talk about, then.” Harry whispered into Louis’ feathery hair. He laughed to punctuate his joke, but Louis squirmed away enough to make eye contact with Harry. Blue met green and Louis said,  
“sounds like a plan to me, Curly.”  
Harry knew by Louis’ honest smirk that he wasn’t kidding, but he could never be too sure.  
“Really?” Harry asked, trying uselessly to suppress the hopefulness in his voice. Nodding, Louis bit his lip and reached over for Harry’s hand. Their fingers laced together. Louis’ warm hands and Harry’s cold ones neutralized each other. Blue and green challenged each other, each daring the other to reclaim its stance and laugh it off. After a half minute, the silence finalized the decision. They weren’t joking, this was real. Harry broke they eye contact first to look at the others at the table, who were all invested in a conversation of their own when Harry clunked the pair of hands on the table. All eyes snapped to the nest of fingers next to the pizza crust. Confusion covered the faces of all but Perrie, who caught on.   
“Yes!” She hissed, slapping Zayn’s arm hard enough to make him flinch. “I told you they wouldn’t last the month.” Realization dripped down Zayn’s face, pulling the corners of his lips into a smile. He made solid eye contact with Louis, using his eyebrows to as the silent question. Louis shrugged and nodded, trying to bite back his smile. The realization was contagious, and soon the table was whooping and cheering, except for Niall who made an exaggerated gagging sound.   
“Thank god you two figured it out. We’ve been pulling for this all along.” Liam laughed tilting his head toward Danielle.   
In just two class periods, the whole school seemed to know. No one acted any differently other than Louis and Harry, who only increased their previous behavior by linking their hands together in the hallways when they walked together. Within a week, the novelty of having a new couple at the school wore off and seeing the two boys together blended with the tiles of the hallway floor and the paint-chipped lockers. The new couple communicated in blissful late-night conversations via text and quick chats in between classes. Harry seemed content with this, still settling into his foreign environment, when Louis finally took the next step.  
“You know, we’ve been together for just over a week now and we have yet to actually go on a real date. I’m starting to feel like a middle school couple with all of this cyber-flirting.” He raised an eyebrow casually at Harry, who’s eyes were glued to the test tube in his hand. They were supposed to be completing a chemistry lab about acidic versus basic reactions, but Harry found himself doing the majority of the work while Louis flicked around paper footballs.  
“So what do you suggest?” Harry’s voice exposed only his concentration, which frustrated Louis. Here he was, trying to ask Harry on their first date, and the Brit couldn’t be bothered to look away from a barely-fizzing test tube.  
“Well, I did have an idea.” Louis drew out the simple sentence, hoping that his pauses would get Harry to start paying attention to the conversation. After ten seconds without a response, Louis blurted it all out.  
“Harry, would you allow me the honor of escorting you to our local Olive Garden for an evening of breadsticks and romance beyond the comprehension of even the most poetic playwrights?” Louis successfully kept any harshness out of his voice, which seemed to do the trick. Harry placed the test tube in the plastic rack and turned his body so he was facing Louis. A smile stretched his face, pulling his dimples from hiding.   
“I accept you eloquent offer with gratitude.” He laughed out his response, making Louis crack a genuine smile. “As long as you tell me who constructed that sentence for you.”  
Louis put a hand to his chest and opened his mouth in a mock-offended gape.  
“How dare you? I can be romantic when I want to be.” He gasped, maintaining the look until Harry’s laugh died down. “Okay, Liam wrote that out for me. I wanted to use big words. The delivery is from the heart, though.” Louis finally dropped his facade and presented his true face to Harry. Hints of vulnerability poked through the hopeful and excited shine of his eyes. His lip faltered once or twice, as if deciding that this was a bad idea. Harry probably wasn’t ready for something like that. Sure, Harry had a boyfriend in the past, but that didn’t necessarily mean he was ready to dive head-first into another relationship. Texting and holding hands is all a game, but a date means something more real. Maybe Harry didn’t want that. Louis was about to play the whole thing off as a joke when Harry finally spoke, unable to do so without plastering a smile to his pale face, plump pink streaking across powdery white.  
“I would love to go on a date with you Louis.”   
Upon hearing that sentence spoken to him for the first time, Louis’ heart hammered. He was familiar with sentiments about “loving to fuck his face” or “loving to see him naked,” but he had never heard of someone wanting to go on an honest-to-god date with him. Harry was now marked forever in Louis’ history. Harry Styles could pack up and move to Argentina in a week, and Louis would still remember him forever, because history had been made by him.  
“Good choice by the way, Olive Garden.” Harry said with his lighthearted tone, once again turning to the test tubes before him. “I hear their breadsticks are bae.”   
“Oh no.” Louis laughed, shaking his head. “Our first inside joke cannot revolve around the word bae.”   
“Too late, bae.” Said Harry, winking and making kissy faces at Louis.   
“Enough flirting back there!” Ms. Kohlman barked from her desk as she gestured at Louis’ and Harry’s table as well as the couple at the table behind them. “Don’t make me switch the seating chart.” Everyone knew it was an empty threat.  
“Then we would be forced to flirt from across the room. That would be hectic. Distracting. You’re purposing anarchy!” Louis shook his hands, shamelessly spewing drama.   
“High schoolers batting their eyelashes at each other would not deteriorate order as much as you think, Louis. You’re lack of focus, however, will diminish your take-away from this class, so I suggest you get back to your lab.” Ms. Kohlman’s voice was in a typical mock-annoyed tone that she used for the students she respected and liked.   
“I’ve already taken a boyfriend from this class what more do I need?” Louis muttered, nudging Harry with his elbow. Harry clapped a hand over his mouth to quiet his laugh, still holding a test tube in the other hand.   
“What was that, Louis?” Ms. Kohlman asked, looking up from the stack of papers she was arranging and stapling on her desk.  
“Nothing, ma’am.” Louis said through a smile, finally turning his attention to the lab.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Short chapter here, then I'm gonna post a long one with the first date and some events after it. Sorry for the wait! As always, feedback is appreciated. Thanks :)


	9. Chapter 9

“This is ridiculous,” Louis criticized himself as he pulled his black t shirt over his head and threw it into the pile on the floor. His bedroom was littered with his entire wardrobe, strewn haphazardly like debris after a hurricane. He’d tried everything on, switching out all of his shirts and pants and shoes over and over again. Turns out, getting ready for his first date with Harry was more difficult than he has previously expected. He flopped shirtless onto his covered bed, pulling his phone from under the pillow to text Niall.  
L- SOS come over to my room now  
Before Louis could even lock his phone, a reply dinged in.  
N- Is your mom home?  
L- No. Work. She won’t be done until 10. It’s safe.  
Louis forgave Niall for the rude yet expected question. Before Louis’ dad had died, Niall hardly ever set foot in the Tomlinson house. In fact, his parents forbade it until he was in high school and they trusted him to make his own decisions. Even with the permission to do so, Niall avoided entering Louis’ home. He only ever did so when the parents were out to avoid any yelling or situations that would embarrass Louis.  
Niall let himself in and walked up to Louis room in silence. The house was too quiet now, without the yelling and TV droning on. It was an uncomfortable silence, but for once there was a shred of peace. Breaking that would only be disrespectful.  
“What’s up man? You okay?” Niall said cautiously, leaning against the door frame of Louis’ room. Without even raising a limb or looking in Niall’s direction, Louis groaned from under his arms.  
“I can’t figure out what to wear on my date with Harry and I feel like a 7th grade girl.” Louis said in a dramatic monotone. Niall seemed relieved to hear the problem was not life threatening, but Louis did not see it that way. This was his first real date ever. As a teenager, he was entitled to a melodramatic crisis or two in order to properly prepare. He had to make up for everything he had missed until now.  
Niall sat down on the end of the bed, lifting Louis’ feet as not to crush them.  
“Okay, you’re over thinking this. Here’s what you need to remember: one, Harry is not from around here. If you wear something that flops, he’ll probably just assume it’s an American trend. Second, you’re very fortunate in the fact that you’re gay. Not only are you gay, you’re with a gay guy who isn’t a fashion-man himself. Unlike a date with a girl, you won’t have to deal with the outfit judging. Lastly, Harry follows you like a love-drunk sorority slut. He is not going to care what clothing you wear. Just wear something you feel comfortable in.” Niall absentmindedly pulled at the laces of Louis’ Vans while staring at the opposite wall. Louis poked his head up finally, and rested his arms on his stomach.  
“Niall I appreciate the pep talk immensely, despite the blatant sexism and generalities.” Louis said flatly but with a smile.  
“That’s what I’m here for man. Now get dressed. Your date starts in twenty minutes.” Niall drummed his hands on Louis’ feet in attempt to spur him to action. After three minutes of groaning, Louis finally rose and pulled on an outfit he had tried on an hour ago.  
*******  
Louis pulled at the hem of his shirt while he waited for the door in front of him to swing open, officially beginning his first date. He arrived at Harry’s house two minutes early, using all of his will power not to seem over-eager (even though he totally was). After the most intense fifteen seconds of his life, Louis was greeted by a jolly middle-aged man proudly wearing a smile and glasses. Louis was prepared for this. He pulled a nervous smile onto his own face and waited for the man to speak.  
“Hello?” He greeted with more of a question than a salutation. Louis picked up on the cue and opened his mouth.  
“Hi, I’m Louis. I’m here to pick up Harry?” Faltering slightly, Louis mimicked the questioning tone, hoping to avoid sounding cocky or rude.  
“Oh, yes. He’s just grabbing his jacket from his room, he’ll be down.” The British accent was just as, if not more, thick than Harry’s.  
Right on time, Harry popped out from behind the man in the doorway, smiling bigger than ever.  
“Bye, Dad! I’ll be back by midnight!” Harry called as he pushed through the door.  
“Wait, you two boys are going where? Olive Garden?” Both boys nodded. “Okay, Harry you pay for Louis’ food, you hear me?” He smiled again, his cheeks rosy and his tone joyful. Attitude wise, this man was the closest thing to Santa Clause that Louis had ever seen (let’s be honest, mall Santas are nothing like the Santa we hear songs and stories about).  
“Yeah, dad, I know.” Harry tried to sound like an annoyed teenager, but he was so smiley just from standing by Louis that it came out sounding breathless and wispy. Louis opened his mouth to insist that he would be paying when Harry’s dad continued speaking.  
“Also, keep it PG guys. It’s the first date. Be classy.” He said, both emphasizing his point and cracking a joke. Louis blushed a crimson shade. Harry rolled his eyes fondly and linked his arm in Louis’, pulling them both off of the porch and over to Louis’ car in the driveway. After waving a respectful goodbye, they both turned away from the door and went to the car. Harry walked over to the passenger side and grabbed the handle when Louis shouted.  
“No! Wait!” Harry froze. Before he could ask why he had to wait, Louis jogged over to open the door for Harry, bowing his head for emphasis.  
“It’s a date. We have to do all the romantic crap.” Louis said, smiling at an awestruck Harry.  
“Well when you put it that way, why the hell not?” Harry laughed and slid into the seat. His face was the epitome of elation. After Louis closed the door gently, he went over to his side of the car and got into his own seat.  
“I hope you don’t mind that I left the top on. If the forecast calls for anything over 15% chance of rain, I cover it up.” Louis said while turning the key in the ignition. When Harry gave him a puzzled look, particularly at his chest, Louis realized he needed to clarify. He pointed to the roof of the car and Harry made a silent “Oh!” expression.  
“I thought you meant your shirt.” He said, laughing awkwardly. He quickly added, “That shirt looks great on you by the way.”  
It really did, if Louis did say so himself. He went with a plain gray t shirt under an open navy blue button up, with the sleeves rolled to just below the elbow. He finished the ensemble with black jeans and simple white Vans. His hair was natural and swept across his forehead. It was casual, but not slouchy or unflattering. Niall had praised him for his final decision.  
“You don’t look bad yourself, Styles. Is it just me or is there more product in your hair than usual?” Louis kept his head mostly pointed at the road, but his eyes and smirk were completely turned on Harry. After blushing and running a hand through his hair, Harry looked out the front window.  
“Watch the road.” He chastised with a giggle that Louis soaked up and stored away as a mental soundbite to play whenever he needed to feel happy and hopeful.  
“So Harry, since this is our first date, I would like to tell you in advance that whatever happens tonight, I will be a perfect gentleman.” Louis’ voice sounded stiff.  
“Lou, just ignore my dad. He was mostly trying to joke around. There’s no pressure here. It’s just you and me.” To emphasize his last few words, Harry reached for Louis’ right hand which was resting on his own thigh. After uncurling the warm finders, Harry weaved his own through Louis’.  
“You have chilly hands.” Louis said quietly as he made a turn.  
“My mom says it’s because my heart is so warm.” Harry said while zoning out with his eyes on the road in front of them, more relaxed now that he had something to hold. Louis barked out a laugh.  
“Hell if that ain’t cute.” Louis said with a mock Southern drawl. He let go of the steering wheel long enough to turn the radio on with his left hand, which made Harry’s insides soft as AC/DC filled the car.  
Once they had been seated, Louis finally had the chance to look at Harry fully. He was wearing a light brown trench coat that stopped at the waist, over a white sweater. Around his neck was a greenish-brownish scarf (Louis noted how it matched his eyes) and below he wore dark blue jeans and white converse. To top if all off, he has an entire bottle of product in his hair to make the curls shinier and looser. It was definitely a good look for him, Louis thought.  
“So, dinner is on me. Order whatever you want.” Harry said casually as his eyes scanned over the menu. Louis’ head snapped up, but Harry displayed no sign of noticing.  
“No, it actually is not.” Louis said, nicely but forcefully. It was early into the date to be arguing about the bill, but Louis would not back down. “I will be paying.”  
“Oh you are a total gentleman,” Harry fanned himself, “but you drove, so I will pay.” Louis opened his mouth to refute Harry’s statement, but Harry went on in a more serious tone. “I do not like to be indebted to people.”  
Louis could see the look in his eyes. That statement was not superficial. Louis wanted to ask what back stories might be hidden there, but the way Harry’s eyebrow twitched and his smile faltered told him that he’d better leave that alone.  
“We’ll see.” Louis settled as the waitress approached their table. She filled their wine glasses with water from a silver pitcher and placed a basket of warm bread sticks on the table. Louis immediately took one and consumed it by tearing it into little chunks to be eaten in single bites. Harry didn’t reach for one. After taking their order, she scooped up their menus and informed them that the kitchen was running a bit slowly due to a family of 16 placing their orders only a minute prior to the boys. Louis was secretly thankful, appreciating every moment he had with Harry.  
“So Louis, how have you been lately?” Harry asked formally, folding his hands on the table. Louis breathed a laugh through his nose and swallowed a chunk of bread stick, reaching for another one.  
“We talk everyday, Harold. You’re pretty updated on Louis Tomlinson’s life happenings.” Harry smiled, almost sadly.  
“C’mon Lou, be real with me here. How have things been?” The question hung in the air, dispersing poignancy. Louis opened his mouth to shoot back a witty remark, but something entirely different came out.  
“It’s been different.” Louis widened his eyes in shock at his own voice, but Harry nodded him on in encouragement. Figuring that the cat was out of the bag, he let more out. “I hated the guy. He was abusive, he was disgusting, but he was also the same man that taught me how to throw a football and tie my shoes. My mom seems like a zombie now. She wanders into the house when she isn’t working or out fucking. She just sits on her bed looking sad. The other day she asked me how I was doing. She hasn’t asked me a question like that in years. She seemed surprised to hear that I wasn’t playing football anymore. It made her kind of sad, and then she stopped talking to me. She’s still paying all the bills, so I know her mind is somewhat functional. I just think she’s wondering where it all went wrong. God, she used to be so happy-” Snapping his mouth shut, Louis stopped. Harry was staring at him patiently, not patronizingly.  
“I never tell anyone any of that.” Louis said apologetically, shaking his head.  
“No, no!” Harry spoke up immediately, “You don’t need to apologize, Lou. I want to know these things. I want to know all of you, not just the funny side, although I do love him. Go on.” Harry seemed eager to hear whatever Louis was willing to tell. It scared Louis, because those green eyes could tear his walls down and make him say things that are not meant to be spoken out loud. This boy in front of him was to fragile to know every side of Louis. Harry needed to be protected from all harm in the world, and Louis could provide that. He shook his head.  
“Enough about this.” Waving a nonchalant, dismissive hand, Louis tried to steer the conversation to safer territory.  
“No Lou, tell me more. You can trust me. I’m not gonna judge-”  
“Stop.” Louis said, firm and chocked. “Please, no more.” The begging look of fear was enough to scare Harry out of his insistence. They sat there in silence briefly, until Harry swallowed and pulled his hands down in his lap.  
“You know, I’ve never told you about my goal for the future.” Harry’s suddenly cheery voice perked Louis up to a point he was leaning on the table intently, signaling the curly-haired and starry-eyed boy to elaborate.  
“So I want to be a doctor, a cardiologist to be specific. I want to Live in New York City. I’d like to have a family, preferably three or four kids. I want to go for jogs in Central Park and play music in bars on the weekends.”  
Harry stopped when Louis raised his hand with a smirk on his face.  
“Um, yes?” Harry called on Louis, smiling with amusement.  
“I have a few questions. One, what do you want to name the kids? Two, what do you mean play music?”  
“For girls I like Bailey and Genevine. For boys I like Victor and George. I play guitar and I like to sing and write my own music. It would be nice to make a hobby of it. I figure I’ll need a way to de-stress if I’m going to medical school and taking care of patients all day.”  
Louis was in awe. Never in his life had Louis planned his future in detail. His ideas came in blurry, broad strokes. Harry seemed to know exactly where he was going. It was mesmerizing.  
“I didn’t know you had musical talent.” Louis said, more of a question than a statement. Harry nodded while taking a sip of water.  
“I wouldn’t call it talent, just unguided passion. I’ve actually talked to some of the people in the music department at our school. I’m hoping that some vocal and guitar lessons will help me. There are a few people there who have shown willingness to help and possibly even collaborate a little bit. It’s not a career path, just a comfortable hobby.”  
“That sounds great Harry!” Louis couldn't hide his sheer admiration if he tried. “I’m really impressed.” Instantly, Harry sat up straighter and quirked an eyebrow.  
“Are you, because I’m trying oh so hard to impress you.” Harry breathed in a mock-sexy voice that made Louis’ mind filthy in a second. Jesus, the things Louis could make Harry say in that voice.  
“You don’t have to try, I’ll still give you some backseat action later.” Louis said in a voice that he meant to be joking, but his dirty thoughts tainted with a tone full of lust. Harry blushed.  
“Oh, No!” Louis didn’t wanna scare him, shit. “I was kidding! I’m not gonna pressure you into anything, I-”  
“Who said I’m not willing?” Harry said, displaying complete seriousness. Louis said nothing, unsure whether this was a test or a genuine implication. When he didn’t get a response, Harry decided to express his sincerity in a nonverbal way. He reached for a bread stick finally. Instead of biting it, he drew the tip into his mouth with his tongue. He made a show of licking the bit in his mouth and sucking the flavor out. When the tip was soggy, he finally bit it off and chewed it. After swallowing, he licked his lips, making them pink and spit-soaked.  
Louis could not breathe. There simply was no air to pass though his lungs. He was sweating and definitely hard in his jeans, in the middle of this godforsaken Olive Garden. He was praying for harry to stop, but the kid only took the scene further. Reaching for his glass, Harry took a purposeful gulp too big for his mouth. Swallowing, a thin stream of water ran down his chin. He used his finger to wipe it. Then, in a move Louis could only refer to as cruel, he stuck the finger in his mouth to clean off the damn water drop. He performed each step of the task without breaking eye contact. Louis felt hear prickling up the back of his neck. His body was too hot and he would not survive more of this teasing. He wanted to grab Harry by the scarf and haul him over the table. He wanted to feel those sinful lips on his own ordinary ones. Thankfully, their waitress approached in that moment to drop off their food. Harry smiled at her innocently, like he hadn’t just sucked off a bread stick seconds before. He was quickly becoming desperate and he hadn’t even had a single noddle of spaghetti. This night was going to be longer than he was equipped to handle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've been so slow! Your guys' comments have motivated me to write this in just 3 hours! Thanks for taking interest inn something I do. I wouldn't ba able to do it without all your kudos and comments. Love you! Enjoy!


	10. Chapter 10

By the time they had finished their food, Harry and Louis had been playing the most seductive game of footsie for ten minutes. By the time they paid the bill, Louis was certain he had sweat through the back of his shirt. By the time they actually stood up to leave the restaurant, they both had a difficult time concealing their hard ons.  
Against all of his primal instincts, Louis did not slam Harry’s beautiful body on to the hood of the car and start viciously making out with him. Instead, he kept a level head while he opened the passenger side door for Harry.  
“So now what?” Harry asked in a voice full of expectancy as Louis started the car, seeming entirely unfazed by their game of sexual Russian roulette only moments earlier.   
“Now you put your seat belt on so I can safely drive you home.” Louis said matter of factly, shifting the car into reverse and backing out smoothly.  
“What?” Harry gaped, a picture of incredulous. “We did not just go through an evening of double entendres and innuendos for an anti-climatic end. See? I just used another one!” Harry was riled up. It was turning Louis on even more, if that were possible. The only indicator of his arousal was the white-knuckled grip in the steering wheel where one hand was usually slung casually.  
“Harry, I told you, I’m classy. We aren’t going there on the first date.” Louis chirped, completely controlled and leveled, which only aggravated Harry even more.  
“Classy? Louis I’m not gonna think any less of you. You don’t have to prove yourself to me. Is this about what my dad said because I promise-”  
“It’s not about your dad,” Louis voice was still too calm for Harry’s liking. “I just don’t think we should go all the way on the first date. You seem like an innocent guy. I don’t wanna trash you up.” Louis’ sweet smile was like sugar on a chocolate bar, excessive and repulsive. He turned through a yellow light, steering the car toward the park. It was the scenic route, which gave them more time together.  
“Wow, that wasn’t at all condescending.” Who knew Harry was capable of pure sarcasm? “And who said anything about going all the way? We could just stick to blow jobs and hand jobs.” Harry’s argument was wearing on Louis’ determination, but he still persisted.   
“Harry, you’re better than this.” Louis laughed through the patronizing comment. Harry’s blood was starting to boil with rage. He looked out the window at the empty road for a second before turning back to Louis, livid.  
“Who are you to decide my own standards for me? I want you Louis, and I know you want me too.” His voice was the quiet kind of angry. It was unbearably seductive, even more so with that accent.  
“I’m not deciding for you,” Louis quipped while he turned the car to the winding path through the parking lot. It was a road that went untraveled during the day, and was completely deserted at night. It would be romantic if Harry weren’t about to tear Louis’ throat out. “I just don’t want you to feel pressured to do anything.”   
“ Oh, get over yourself! I’m not some eager-to-please cheerleader ripping my skirt off to keep you satisfied! I am dying for this and you know it, yet you’re choosing to be a pompous ass. Are you just trying to make me beg? Is that it? You’re so self important you have to have me with my hands folded, on my knees?” Louis swallowed and gave no response, pulling the car over.  
“You really got it then, didn’t you. Here I am begging. I’m not above it. What, are you disappointed because you thought I was more innocent than that?” Harry huffed, defeated. He shifted his body so he was facing the window. Deciding he really wanted to nail the last word in, he added “fucking tease.”  
And with that, Louis was on Harry’s side of the car. His warm hands tangled in Harry’s curly locks and Louis pulled it so Harry’s head was positioned looking up at him.   
“Harry, you’re every guy’s wet dream. This is what I get for trying to go on one vanilla-classic date, huh?” Louis seethed, holding their mouths centimeters apart. Harry’s eyes fell from wide in shock to drooping in lust. “You really want this?” Louis whispered, his breath fanning Harry’s mouth. Harry pushing his lips out, chasing the feeling. When he realized that Louis was waiting for an actual answer, he nodded. The movement was lost in the grip on his hair, so he gasped.   
“Yes. I do, I really do.”   
With that, Louis’ last shred of control was gone. He squirmed his way into the back seat, pulling Harry with him. As they awkwardly clumped back into the seat, Louis pushed Harry so his back was against one of the doors and his legs were reclined out on the seat. Then, straddling Harry’s thighs Louis leaned in. He held their mouths barely apart again, but Harry had the leverage to push forward and connect this time.   
Louis has expected Harry’s lips to be cold like his hands. Instead, they were pleasantly warm and wet from Harry’s incessant lip biting habit. Harry was not a novice in the kissing department apparently. He opened his mouth and ran his tongue over Louis’ bottom lip, asking for entrance. Rather than granting it to him, Louis shoved his tongue into Harry’s mouth, making the curly headed boy open his eyes in surprise. Louis ignored it and continued his mission, venturing around Harry’s mouth. He could faintly taste Harry’s Italian wedding soup from earlier. It was as creamy on his tongue as it had looked earlier. Louis soaked up every bit of Harry he could get, never wanting to detach their faces, that is, until Harry moaned into his mouth. The sound shot electricity down to Louis’ cock, and he needed more. He pulled their faces away to catch his breath and take in the disheveled view of Harry. Harry noticed the unasked question, and panted out his answer.  
“Let me Louis. Please.” He tipped his head, looking at the obvious growing tent in Louis’ jeans. He even licked his lips to sell his offer. Louis mentally debated it for a moment. He didn’t want to finish first, but finally he decided that nothing in the world mattered except Harry’s mouth, and he leaned his back against the opposite door. While Harry climbed over his body, Louis moved to pull down his zipper, but harry stopped him. Wordlessly, the curly-headed boy bent his head down, taking the tab of the zipper between his teeth, and pulled it down while holding eye contact. If Louis were not so practiced in the sex department, he’d have shot his load at the sight alone. It was unexpected and all manner of hot. He groaned and tipped his head back. This boy, with his proper English, his preppy clothing, and his ever-wide innocent eyes, was making Louis fall apart at the seams. Louis, the one who had fucked and been fucked more times than he felt the need to count, found himself drowning in Harry. He was out of breath by the time Harry had his cock out in the warm car air.   
Harry wasted no time. The kid was acting like he was starving for dick. He held Louis’ shaft with his fist and mouthed at the head, making a mess of his own face. Once his entire chin was slick with spit, Harry took more down. Louis wasn’t the longest fella out there, but he was pretty thick. Harry didn’t quite seem prepared for it, pulling back and sputtering a bit after trying to take a few inches him. Once he caught his breath, he went down again, this time more successfully. As if making up for his false start, he took the whole thing in one go. Louis’ eyes almost popped out of their sockets and he sat up. Threading a hand in Harry’s textured mane, he leaned back and groaned again.   
“Fuck Harry,” he gasped as Harry laved his tongue over the vein on Louis’ underside, “ I had no idea-“ The sentence abruptly cut off when Harry purposefully moaned around Louis’ sending a vibration up his spine. As if his life were depended on Louis’ orgasm, Harry used his tongue, licking and sucking on Louis’ dick. To make matters worse, he made piercing eye contact on the upstroke. He moaned and sucked and licked like a starving man.   
In all of his experience, Louis had trained himself to stave off his orgasms as best he could, wanting to make the encounters last or make his partner happy. He was used to hooking up with older men, so his stamina had been trained to match theirs. Somehow, Harry tore down all of his practice. With those green eyes, those genuine, unrehearsed moans, and his utter enthusiasm, Louis was gone. Somewhere in his mind, it registered that he was pulling Harry’s hair far to hard to be considerate as he shot into the hot, wet mouth. Harry seemed taken slightly aback, but he swallowed most of it. The rest joined his spit, dripping down his chin. He sucked every last drop from Louis, wanting every speck he could get. Louis let his head drop against the cool window with a thud.   
“How the hell?” He panted in an awestruck voice, “Where the fuck did you learn to do that?”   
Harry wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and spoke in a wrecked voice.  
“I’ve had some practice,” he said in a way that was probably meant to be cheeky, but it only intrigued Louis. It also aggravated him that Harry’s beautiful mouth had ever been used on anyone but him. How unfair.  
“Well god,” Louis panted, taking his hands out of Harry’s hair as the latter sat up. “How am I supposed to follow that act?”   
Harry blushed scarlet, pitting his swollen lip.  
“That problem was taken care of already.” He mumbled, avoiding eye contact for the first time the entire date. Louis wrinkled his forehead in confusion. He gave Harry and up-down look and noticed his hand. It was covered in Harry’s own come. He must have jerked himself off while he blew Louis. The thought alone was about to get Louis hard again.   
“Do you have any napkins?” Harry gestured awkwardly to his dirty hand. Without a second thought, like a man possessed, Louis surged forward and to the hand, bringing it to his own mouth. He licked, sucked, and kissed all the drying come from the cool skin beneath it. The taste was salty, but certainly not the worse Louis had tasted. Once Harry’s hand was covered only in saliva, Louis blessed it with a tiny kiss to the palm. Harry gently used his wet hand to pull Louis up for a real kiss.   
All the kisses Louis had ever experienced had been ones of lust. Sex-starved, middle-aged, closeted kisses of anger and ferociousness. He’d also felt the slobbery kisses of trashed and curious frat boys. Louis was certainly no stranger to those types of kisses, but this kiss with Harry was foreign. There was no rush, no promises of insane sex to follow, no incentive other than pure expression of affection. It was slow and tender. Louis felt his heartbeat slow with it, which was a pleasant contrast to the race of blood in his veins during their first kiss. Harry exemplified everything Louis had been virgin too. Dates, banter, concern, respect, and genuine want of each other’s mind and body. It was a priceless addition to all the energy, excitement, anticipation, and fear of the unknown. This boy had popped up with his strange dialect, his crater-dimples, and his caring personality. He pulled Louis through his dad’s death in a way that Niall, Zayn, and Liam couldn’t. Harry was a goddamn gift.  
“Alright.” Louis whispered, gently breaking the kiss. “You’re dad is going to be expecting you soon.” He pulled away from Harry’s face, using every fiber of his being to do so.   
“Who cares?” Harry asked, in a way that betrayed his own concern for the time.  
“We gotta get you home, kid, but I say we just drive around listening to music for our final 20 minutes together.” Louis could hardly believe his own suggestion. Since when did he shy away from make out sessions with cute British guys? When he looked into Harry’s eyes though, he felt it again. That feeling of satisfaction. He was overjoyed that he had been given the privilege to exist with Harry, and sometimes that alone was enough.  
“Okay Lou,” Harry’s voice always sounded so trusting and mesmerized, “I’m with you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was just supposed to be smut but it turned into fluff oops. I promise there will be more porn in the future for all of you who crave that, but I'm trying to further the plot with it, so it's a slow process. 
> 
> I apologize for the late updates. I am currently writing a book, and this has become a side-job. As long as you continue to comment and remind me, I will try to update once every 10 or so days.   
> Much love <3

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys. I'm planning on making this a long fic, but I'll actually complete it for once! If you actually would care to read more, please comment telling me to update and leave kudos. If I feel like no one likes it then I'll just give up on it, but I have some of the next chapter written, so I'll continue if there's a demand for it.
> 
> Title from The Whip by Locksley :)


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